Deku Twins
by jwootan02
Summary: Hana Midoriya was born with a pyrokinesis quirk, a combination of her parents' abilities, leading her to spend most of her life believing that her power took away Izuku's chance of having his own. In a world where she grew up protecting Izuku and befriending Kacchan, she must learn what being a hero really means to her. AU - Izuku has a twin sister.
1. Chapter 1

"Hana!"

My brother threw open the front door and rushed in, not bothering to shut it behind hi: as he flew across the room to drop down on the couch beside me. His green eyes were alight and wild as his unkempt hair of the same color. I quirked my head to the side, taking in his uneven breaths.

"Izuku?" I asked, sitting up straight. "Did you run all the way home?" And then I realized it. Jerking up to my feet, a fist balled at my side, I said, "It was Katsuki again, wasn't it? I thought he'd grown from the old days…"

"No!" Izuku shouted, frantically waving his hands. "I mean, yes.. kind of… not really… HANA LISTEN!"

My eyes turned away from the march I was prepared to take all the way to the Bakugou household and settled back on my twin. "What is it?"

But then his shoulders slumped and he deflated into the couch cushions. Izuku had always been a character but this was a bit much even for him. I settled back down at his side, turning to face him with my legs crossed in my lap.

"Izuku?"

His green eyes met my black ones — the only feature that would be able to tell us apart aside from the length of my hair and, well, puberty hit me pretty strong a few months ago.

"I can't tell you," he whispered under his breath.

My brow furrowed. There was nothing that my brother couldn't tell me, or that I couldn't tell him for that matter. That's the way we had always been. Our mother did the best that she could on her own, but we were always there to pick up the slack left behind by the hole in our lives that was our father.

"Of course you can," I assured him. "You know I won't tell anyone."

He dropped his eyes to his hands fidgeting restlessly in his lap and I waited for muttering that never came. Instead he finally looked up, only to see that my television program had been interrupted by breaking news. His mouth slowly fell open and I turned to see my brother on the screen.

Barreling toward a massive monster made of a mucky sludge.

Wait.

"Is that?" I muttered. "Kacchan?"

Izuku's head dropped, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen. All Might swooped in and saved them both from both the villain and Katsuki's familiar flames that had burst in a chaos created by the monster.

"Izuku, tell me everything."

His head whipped over to me and I noticed the tears starting to swell beneath his eyes. I sighed softly, my heart always aching at the sight. I often envied him for his sensitive nature. Something in me just couldn't let myself loose like that. I reached out a hand for my brother's cheek and he swallowed back as much emotion as he could.

"I'm not supposed to tell anyone," he murmured.

I wanted to tell him that was ridiculous. We are twins. We've never broken confidence with one another. Of all the people in the world, I will always have his back more than anyone and I know he feels the same for me. Still, if he feels this strongly about keeping his secret…

"Alright," I told him and his entire demeanor relaxed. "You can tell me what you want to when you want to. I will be here for you either way."

After a beat of surprise, my brother turned toward me and puffed out his chest. Grabbing my hand with both of his he said, "I'm going to be a hero, Hana. Just like All Might. Just like you."

I squeezed his hand back so hard I thought I might hurt him. "If there's anything I want more than to be a pro hero, it's to see you fighting alongside of me."

We held each other's hands for a moment longer before he let go and leaned forward. "I'm going to apply for UA with you."

A small smile touched the corners of my lips. "I'm not surprised at all. Does that mean you're going to spend the next ten months training with me?"

But this made him pause. "Actually, uh," he stuttered, "I think I'm going to train on my own if that's okay?"

I froze for a second or two before snapping out of that. "Yeah, sure." Something about my brother not wanting to follow my lead felt so foreign. I shifted my feet out from under me and turned back toward the tv where All Might was being interviewed.

"WHILE I DON'T ENCOURAGE ENDANGERING YOURSELF, THE STUDENTS INVOLVED TODAY SHOWED REMARKABLE ACTS OF BRAVERY — A REMINDER FOR MYSELF AND ALL OF YOU THAT IT'S THE HEART THAT MAKES THE HERO!"

I sucked in a heavy breath. "I think I'm gonna go for a run," I told my brother as I stood up, my eyes still zoned in on All Might's fearless smile on the screen. I didn't need to explain to him why I take my runs, or that he was likely the cause of the discomfort in my mind. But I knew that just as I let him keep his secret today, he would give me my space.

I was already dressed in running gear — tight black shorts and an oversized white tee — so I didn't bother with a trip back to my room before heading straight for the door. My route was familiar. Unlike my brother, I was not born quirkless — a fact that was both a gift and my greatest shame. I loved All Might along with so many other pro heroes, but the way my brother loved heroes was something entirely incomparable. Who was I to be the one to receive the chance to become our dream?

I turned onto the Main Street that led to the small park all the neighborhood kids had made a second home not so many years ago. All I'd ever wanted was to protect my brother. The entrance exam was only ten months away and while I knew I would be applying, my momentum was faltering.

Why did I even want to be a hero?

"Watch where you're going, Hanachan," a familiar voice growled from behind me.

I huffed as he fell into step beside me. "This is not really a good time, Kacchan. Don't you have some innocent gardens to explode somewhere or something?"

His crooked smile was a dangerous treat. "You know you're my favorite flower to light up, so why would you even ask?"

I held a hand over my mouth and made gagging noises, despite the fact that I was actually hiding a grin. Katsuki Bakugou was the most annoying, misunderstood, and kind of beautiful person I knew. Of course I would never admit any of that to him and his big fat ego.

"Whatever, you love it," he said as he turned toward the park — testing me. He knew my typical route on a run and I never stop at the park, only running along the east side further into town before returning home from the west. "Training for the entrance exams already? As if you think you might actually have a chance?"

I regretted following him before he could have even said entrance exams.

"Do we really need to argue over who would win between the two of us?" I countered, keeping my tone light and bored while my mind was somewhere else completely. Maybe he was right. Maybe I shouldn't apply at all. What right do I have to potentially take a spot from someone with the heart like my brother? If I made it into UA and he didn't… I couldn't live with it.

He led us over to a plain set of climbing bars that I'd seen him use as workout equipment more times than I could count over the years. I'd never tell him about the times I would copy his routines to try and train myself as well. He reached up for the highest rung and I noted how much taller he was getting while I was staying small. Swinging, Kacchan pulled himself over the bars to sit on their edge and watch me expectantly.

Sighing, I jumped for the rung he'd used and barely grabbed hold before mimicking his movements to pull myself over the top and sit beside him. His hand twitched noticeably at his side while I struggled, but he did not help me and I was grateful for it.

"If you think that just because your quirk might have an advantage over mine that you can beat me in a fight, you're dumber than you look," he said calmly as he stared ahead at the night sky.

"You're not wrong," I told him. "I still have a lot of training to do — with and without my quirk if I want to stand a chance of passing the entrance exams."

Kacchan gripped the bars at his side with both hands. "You just need some basic fitness and combat. As for your quirk — ours are not too different, though yours is probably safer. You just need to play with it. Spend time with it. Make it a fluid part of you."

I turned my head toward the blonde. "Are you feeling alright? I don't know how I feel about a _helpful _Kacchan."

He scoffed. "We all have our reasons for who we are and what we let the world see." Leaning back against the full length of the bars, he looked up at me until I followed suit beside him and then he said, "If you think you can get it together and keep up, I'll train with you before the entrance exams."

My features folded in confusion. Sure, Katsuki and I had slowly become friends in private over the years, but still — he's always been a dick. And then I remembered.

"I saw the news," I whispered.

"Oh yeah? What the fuck about it?" he demanded, his more familiar rage simmering for the first time tonight.

I just nodded. No need to push him, but I could see how an event like being taken and manipulated by a villain — facing death — could make someone rethink some of their choices.

"I'd be grateful for your help training for the exams, Kacchan," I said, picking myself up to jump down from the bars. "I've gotta get back to my run now, before it gets too late to finish."

"Stupid girl," he spat, "it's already dark. I'll run with you but you better keep up."

He didn't say another word before leaping from the top of the bars and taking off in a sprint. We didn't come across any trouble and we didn't speak again, not until we'd run past his house to my front door.

I wrapped my hand around the knob just as he shouted from behind me, "An hour in the morning and two in the evening. You better be ready, Hanachan."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Hana means something along the lines of "flower" in Japanese and is a bit like her father's name while Izuku's is a bit like their mother's name. In case you were wondering about Bakugou's flower comment.**

**This chapter is more introspective to lay some groundwork moving forward. They will not all be this way!**

**Thank you for reading and reviewing and let me know anything you might want to see coming up!**

* * *

My muscles ached, but were finally recovering. Katsuki and I planned one last training day before giving ourselves two rest days to be at our best for the UA entrance exam. When Kacchan has first offered the training I had spent much of my waking hours that night trying to come up with an excuse to tell Izuku when he inevitably asked why I was spending so much time with his mortal enemy — someone I had openly referred to as a dickhead more times than I could count. But I liked to think that maybe the world wasn't entirely black and white. No one could be perfectly good or perfectly bad, right?

But my stressing had been over nothing. Izuku was taking his independent training extremely seriously and still keeping it a secret — a fact that hurt more than I would admit.

"Are you really gonna fucking blow it three days from the exam?" Katsuki shouted over the sound of an explosion small enough to keep us from getting in trouble. He fired it at me and I spun, my quirk tugging on the familiar feeling of flame before my eyes ever landed on the blast. With a thought, I seized the fiery explosion and turned it on its master, bending the flame to my will. It flew back at Katsuki who leapt out of the way to dodge, crouching down to close in for hand to hand combat, but the explosion did not lose focus. I led it into a curve, following its maker like a heat seeking missile.

And just before it landed, I dissolved the flame completely.

Katsuki rose, coming to his new full height that was significantly taller than me. "That will be useful if you can get the hang of it on a larger scale."

"It's really not as difficult as leading the flame, but we shouldn't even be using our quirks in the first place so we can't really practice it on a bigger blast," I replied, straightening my plain white shirt that had filled out a little more than I had prepared for over the last ten months. Katsuki hit a huge growth spurt and even Izuku had grown to surpass me, meanwhile my hormones decided to take my height and give me boobs instead.

They were really impractical for combat training.

"True," Katsuki said as he looked around the rows of abandoned warehouses we had chosen to train by. In retrospect, it wasn't exactly a safe choice — not for our physical well-being, but if someone tried to mess with us we would have both attacked and ended up in trouble and our chance at UA would be over before it even started.

"Are you actually going to rest these next two days?" I asked him as we both started to walk home without a discussion.

"Of course I am," he sniped. "Rest is one of the largest factors to growing the mind and body. I'm not stupid like you."

"Excuse me?" I snapped, stepping out in front of him to stop him in his tracks.

But he only offered that bitter half smile. "We both know you're going to go for at least one run before the exam. Stupid. But at least I know if I ever need a sidekick you'd be an unstoppable street patrol."

I opened my mouth to retort but froze. Was that… sort of… a compliment maybe? Or an insult? Katsuki stepped around me, brushing my shoulder as he passed and I reached out for his arm. He looked over at me with brows raised, a fire lighting in his eyes right before me.

"Fuck you," I muttered, scrambling. He turned to face me completely and I had to crane my neck to look up at him with how close he was.

My hand fell from his arm and I was starting to forget why I was so angry with him in the first place. His hand grazed my hip for less than a breath and I looked down, missing his expression to try and guess whether that was an accident.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, his voice low and mocking. "Fuck you too, Hanachan." And then he turned away once more, heading out of the sketchy alleys we'd turned into a haphazard training ground and back towards our neighborhood. "Let's get you home. You'd be a fool not to get extra sleep tonight if you're going to go out for a run tomorrow after I told you it was a stupid idea."

The sun was setting and I couldn't help but feel the strange temperature our friendship had taken. I refused to admit that I liked him — nothing would be more embarrassing than confessing this uncomfortable _thing _that had crept up in me over the last ten months, maybe more. Besides, I had enough on my plate to worry about instead of one asshat and my girly feelings.

Izuku had been training somehow, somewhere. I could have easily followed him on many occasions, but there was just something about it that felt like betraying our bond that would never let me do it. He was gone before I met up with Katsuki in the mornings and though I would see him at school he would run off again after, only staying home for meals that he'd apparently preplanned with our mom for whatever fitness training he was now undergoing. I had to say though, it seemed like it was working. He'd always been a small, scrawny kid, but as he'd grown just a bit taller, he'd filled out over this year — gaining muscles I'd never expected to see from the more book type he'd always been despite his love for heroes.

I was beyond proud, but my deepest fear of all his work still not being enough kept me from saying so. This was everything he had ever wanted accumulating into one test and though I had no doubts he would pass the written portion, the practical exam without a quirk was going to be nothing short of impossible.

So maybe his training wasn't the only reason for our distance.

Katsuki rounded the corner ahead of me and stopped to wait for me to catch up. "Come on princess, hurry the fuck up or I'm leaving your ass out here."

I ignored him, but he still waited until I was by his side before he met my stride. Home was only a few blocks away now and I was grateful that we'd always travelled in a comfortable silence to and from training sessions.

For the first time I wondered if I would struggle on the practical exam. All this training with Katsuki had really only been to make myself better. I hadn't thought about UA being the end goal. If I didn't make it in I would simply apply elsewhere or even go to a regular high school. The thought plagued me with guilt. What right did I have to go to a prestigious private hero school that so many painstakingly chased after when my passion wasn't for any institution.

Which belied my larger conflict—

What did I stand for? What did I want? Why was it so hard to figure it out?

"You better not be all in your head like that during the exam," Katsuki said, his gruff voice breaking my train of thought. We would be passing his house soon, but I already knew he would take me home before doubling back. "I'll beat the shit out of you if you made me waste my time training you for ten months. Fuck."

"You didn't only trained me. Don't act like you didn't learn anything new," I argued half heartedly.

He huffed and said nothing else but I felt like he'd moved a little closer. I could almost feel the heat of him radiating at my side and I clenched my teeth. He was not something else I needed to figure out. I'd grown to enjoy whatever it was we were to each other. Friends, I guess.

When we finally came to my house it was later than usual for us. I'd missed dinner. I took my first step up the sidewalk and Katsuki called out after me.

"I see you running tomorrow and you better hope they separate us during the practical exam."

"Noted," I mumbled under my breath before heading inside.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: This one was fun!**

**Keep in mind that when you bully someone's fanfiction for being about bakugo, you're no better than the canon bakugo you apparently hate so much *insert upside down smiley face*  
**

**This is an AU! I wouldn't consider everything canon you know about our beloved characters to have happened to them. Having a strong sister stand up to Bakugo in the beginning changed the course of events way back at age four for Izuku. **

**Hope you enjoy all the updates while I'm on a writing spree! **

* * *

I got ready too slowly on the day of the exams. My hair just seemed to be tougher to brush and wrap into a long black and green ponytail than normal. My shower just wasn't hot enough. My school uniform didn't look right, no matter what small adjustments I tried to make to my skirt or my socks. I couldn't decide on what training gear to pack even though I almost always wore the same white shirt and black shorts that I eventually settled on.

"Hana! Hurry and eat something before you go!" my mom shouted from the kitchen.

I took one last look in the mirror before grabbing my bag and following her orders all while thinking about the run I didn't go on yesterday or the day before. Mom was plating some toast and cooked eggs when I walked in and noticed the most off part of my morning yet.

"Where is Izuku?"

My short, stout mother with the same green hair as my brother and I turned to face me. "He left early this morning again. I thought you'd gone with him until I went to check on your rooms."

My mouth parted slightly. What training could he be doing the morning of the exam? I shoved away the twinge in my heart at the loss of the morning traveling to the exam with my brother that I thought I was getting.

"Are you excited?" my mom asked, catching me completely off guard.

I reached for a piece of toast and fiddled with it in my hands. "I think so," I answered honestly. "I'm nervous."

A small smile wrinkled my mom's eyes. "You'll do great, sweetheart. Just…" she hesitated, "just watch out for Izuku, okay?"

I bit my lip. "Okay," I said and took a bite of toast, tightening my hold on one strap of my orange bag over my shoulder. "I'll call you later," I told her and turned toward the front door just as a knock sounded.

"HANACHAN IF YOU TAKE ANY LONGER I'M LEAVING YOU BEHIND DO YOU HEAR ME!"

For the first time all morning the tightening in my chest loosened and I opened the door to a fuming Katsuki.

"Kacchan, you keep saying that and yet you've never once actually left me behind," I quipped, only fueling his level of hot head today — something that would undoubtedly become annoying once he was around other people. "Bye mom!" I shouted before shoving Katsuki out of the doorway.

"If we miss the bus I swear—"

"We won't," I said before shoving him aside and taking off in a run toward the bus stop, hoping the game would fuel some fun under that fire of his and disguise my own worries of being late.

He might be faster than me for a short distance but I know I can run all the way to the bus stop, even to the exam orientation building itself, though I would be a little too fatigued to be at my best afterwards. It wasn't long before he caught up, catching me by the elbow and spinning me to a stop.

"WHY would you expend that kind of energy? I know you're stupid but are you really that stupid?!" he shouted, grabbing my other arm to hold me in place.

"Are you really so weak that a little jog to the bus stop will affect your results today?" I goaded him. "Interesting."

"For fuck's sake," he scoffed running his hands madly through his hair. "You're too much. Can we just take the exam?"

"Of course!" I replied brightly.

His simmering cooled once we were on the bus on time. We stayed quiet from then on, both diving into our heads to mentally prepare.

I thought back to our training — the sparring and the times we dared to illegally use our quirks or when we simply sat and strategized what we could be capable of when we were let loose to whatever damage we liked. I stared down at my hands in my lap, clenching my fists. We'd run plenty, but Katsuki had also made us work on strength training which he'd universally bested me at, but I'd gotten so much stronger.

The steady motion of the bus over asphalt came to an easy stop before the hiss of the door finally sounded. Katsuki and I stood simultaneously, but still said nothing.

The UA archway was a daunting structure meant to inspire all who stepped through it into the fine cobblestone path leading to the concrete steps before the front doors. The firm red beams met at the height of the arch with a golden UA holding both sides together. I didn't slow to stare and neither did Katsuki at my side. Instead I gripped the length of my ponytail and threw it over my shoulder, grabbing the single strap of my orange backpack with a grip tight enough to focus some of my nerves.

"DEKU?!"

My head whipped up ahead and there he was. My brother was an alarmingly noticeable ball of nerves as he spun on us.

I waited for Katsuki to say something stupid to my already shaking brother that, for some reason, I was having a hard time looking at. However, my training partner merely turned to me and said, "You knew he was taking the exam too?"

"Yep," I answered.

Katsuki opened his mouth to say something else but looked between myself and my brother and shut it again. He sucked in and forced out a harsh breath before crossing his arms and walking around Izuku.

Leaving me and my twin alone for the first time in way too long.

Izuku tried to smile but it turned out more scary than anything. "You'll do well, Hana," he managed to say.

I stared into his eyes searching my heart for something encouraging to say back to him, but all I found was the hole he'd left when he'd avoided and ignored me for the last ten months.

"Good luck, Izuku."

* * *

I wasn't sure whether ending up in the same Battle Center as Katsuki would be a blessing or a curse. I'd assumed that the three of us would all be separated coming from the same school but there it was on our cards plain as day: Battle Center A.

We didn't speak again since we'd run into my brother outside of orientation and I didn't bother trying to sit by him on the bus ride over to the massive stadium-like structure that held our testing ground. We'd changed into our training garb, but I wasn't willing to be targeted if anyone felt the need to point out that we were from the same school and could possibly team up.

As if Katsuki Bakugou would ever work well in a team.

We were fighting mechanical villains on a points based system. Simple enough. We only had ten minutes to prove that we were tactically worthy of entering the hero program at the most prestigious hero academy in the country.

Everyone filtered out of the bus politely enough. Some started to cheer and chatter in the crowd when they saw the gates to the event ahead of us, but many stayed quiet — myself included.

Maybe I did want this — maybe I did want this bad.

Our moderator shouted out the start of the exam with little fanfare, catching most of the students off guard. I ran with them, channeling the part of my quirk so directly inherited by my father that I rarely touched it, and exhaled.

The fire was small but kept with me as I ran, seeking out my first faux villain. With a flame so small I'd need to figure out where the gas cans would be, and I'd need to hope they ran on fuel and not someone's quirk.

A two pointer crashed through a building and I ran straight for it. I'd need to get to it before someone else. It spotted me and turned its mechanical arms that served as weapons toward me. I leapt onto it, my fire staying close by my side. Steadying my feet, I searched for any clue as to wear the gas tank might be. I only needed one successful strike and I'd be set for the rest of the exam.

There.

I sent my ball of fire straight for the square shaped slit toward the back of the machine, readying myself to breathe out a new flame should this one fall unsuccessful. But my fire sunk through the gaps of metal and ignited. The explosion threw me back, tearing the two pointer into pieces. I could feel the force of the fire at the peak of the blast and quickly grabbed onto it with my quirk.

Then I had a wall of flame as large as the two pointer itself swirling around me, listening to my every command.

I darted down the Main Street of the mock metropolis, repeating the combustion process over and over. I lost count of my points due to the focus necessary to control the still accumulating fire that walked with me as I hunted for my higher score. I wove the blaze into a whirlwind of fire above me, doing my best to minimize damage to the surrounding buildings and to keep from injuring the other applicants that appeared and disappeared from every angle.

Around a dozen targets later, I finally heard the familiar sound of explosions blasting left and right, faster than I'd ever heard them before. Only to be drowned out by the crushing of a massive wheeled foot as big as any of the faux villains. I looked up to see the elusive zero pointer towering over the broken city and then, off in the distance, was a horde of one, two, and three pointers with none other than Katsuki exploding his way through them in a trail of pungent smoke.

The fires he'd left behind still fueled by his fallen mechanical victims called to me and I ran, my whirlwind of fire responding above me. Throwing out the stored flame, I swept it over the massive group of targets, adding the strength of their fires to my own effectively taking out whatever machines had avoided Katsuki's wrath so far. I didn't have time to check on his state amidst my inferno before I pulled with every last bit of control I had left to bring the wave of fire back toward me — and the gigantic zero pointer behind me.

The other applicants had all run from the threat, instead choosing to use their last minutes to earn actual points from their efforts, but something in my blood was burning with the power I'd amassed.

I couldn't run from the challenge of taking down the greatest obstacle on the course — no, I wanted to conquer it.

The wildfire soared toward its target, crawling over its metal surface and seeking out every crack and cranny it could slip into. Boom after boom sounded and I watched on with a stupified lust at what I was capable of.

I'd never pushed myself so hard — never even used my quirk for more than helping in small situations.

I felt lost in the glory of the fire.

And then the zero pointer started falling. Pieces twice as big as me started to crash down all around me and reality started to set back in. What had I done? What was I thinking?

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?"

A body slammed into me and we flew to the side just as a mechanical arm fell down onto the street where I'd been standing sending a shockwave of wind and electricity down the row of empty businesses. We rolled on the concrete and familiar red eyes looked me over with fury before snapping up to take in our surroundings.

"TIME IS UP!"

"For fuck's sake, what was that? Seriously?" Katsuki yelled, gesturing violently toward the flaming zero pointer in pieces behind us.

I didn't respond. I couldn't.

But I did stand up and walk over to the destruction I'd caused and pulled on any lingering vestiges of my quirk I still had and silenced the largest fires, leaving only the smallest that would go out on their own before I would even be back on the bus.

My feet moved unbidden back toward the entrance. I had no idea what score I'd end up with, but worrying about it beyond my newfound fear of myself was difficult to say the least.

I felt like a villain.

I'd never felt anything like the massive fire I'd managed to hold onto for so long today. The largest fire I'd ever controlled was Katsuki's in the alley, otherwise I'd only ever extinguished accidental fires in my mom's kitchen and the tiny flame of my single lighter I kept in my desk at home.

I felt limitless in that moment, despite the strain it took — despite my pouring sweat and groaning legs.

I needed to learn control. I needed to experience that overwhelming sensation of power over and over again until I was its ruler, until I could use it tactically and intelligently. I couldn't let the power get the best of me again.

But for the first time I wasn't thinking about whether Izuku was alright or whether my mom was truly happy and taken care of. For the first time, I was thinking of only me.

I needed to go to UA. I needed to get better. I needed to learn everything they had to offer me.

A pink hand landed on my shoulder and I flinched away.

"Oh! Sorry!" said the girl with pink skin and two small horns above her temples. "I just wanted to say that was incredible!" She smiled genuinely before walking off toward the bus with a wave. "I hope to see you around!"

I clenched my fist and walked over to the bus giving the wreckage I'd left behind one last glance before getting on board.


	4. Chapter 4

I walked home alone, though Izuku was nowhere to be found and it wasn't hard to avoid Katsuki. The girl with pink hair smiled at me on the bus and I smiled back, but kept my distance. Part of me wished I would have just run home. I deserved to push every last bit of energy I had left out of me.

The students willing to talk amongst themselves had whispered about the amount of points they had — twenty seven, twelve, thirty one, nine. I watched my feet as I ran, looking up here and there on my usual path making sure not to run into anything. I wasn't sure what score I ended up with. I knew I'd taken down somewhere over a dozen before wiping out the horde Katsuki was working on.

I didn't want to think about Katsuki having to stop his exam to save me from my own mess, though I was sure I would hear about it plenty.

I took off the second I'd stepped out of the bus and hadn't looked back since. The familiar corners of my neighborhood led me home soon enough. Children played in the park as I passed and I looked away.

"_That's mean, Kacchan," the trembling kindergartner declared to his larger schoolmate. "Can't you see he's crying?" The boy on his knees behind my brother held his arm tightly, tears streaming down his round face. "If you keep going, I-I-I'll never forgive you!"_

"_Even though you're quirkless," the blonde bully said, "you're pretending to be a hero, Deku?"_

_I recognized the bully, though I'd always thought he was my brother's friend. He punctuated his jab at Izuku with a pounding fist, sparking a flame between his hands. My face dropped and I hopped off the slide, pushing my pigtailed friend out of the way to run for my brother. _

_I skid to a stop in front of Izuku and the boy he was protecting just as the blonde and his friend launched forward through the playground sand. The blonde pounded his fist once more and I reached out, begging it to stop. _

_The fire evaporated into nothing and the bully stopped in his tracks. "Hey! What gives?" he shouted. _

"_I can steal your fire, you jerk!" I yelled at him, pointing a finger to his face. "It's not fair to pick on others! You'll never be a hero if all you do is hurt people!" Pulling my hands into fists at my side, ignoring how much bigger all the kids were around me I said, "You're just being a villain!" _

Would that playground forever be my origin story? Sure, I'd wanted to take care of my brother — I always had — but more than that… I couldn't stand by in the face of unfairness.

I ducked my head once more as I jogged past the park the rest of the way home. I was grateful my mom wasn't in a common area of the house so I could slip away to my room without having to talk about the exam. Rounding the corner into the hall that held mine and my brother's rooms I heard a soft sniffling.

Oh, Izuku.

I tossed my bag by my door and stepped quietly over to my brother's that he'd left ajar. "Izzy?" I whispered, knocking softly before pushing the door open slowly. He was sitting at his desk, resting his chin on his folded hands. The video of All Might's first big rescue was in mid play on his computer screen.

He didn't react and I moved over to sit on the edge of his bed. All Might posters littered his walls. I looked at the empty spot where he'd taken one down to give to me after that day in the park. It still hung over my bed in my own room.

"What happened?" I dared to ask him.

Gripping the edge of the desk, he finally turned his red rimmed eyes on me and I couldn't help but notice the muscles flexing in his forearm that weren't there a year ago. "I didn't score any points," he mouthed, the sound hardly a murmur.

I clenched my teeth and held back the urge to reach for him. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to help him.

"But…" he started, "I took down the zero pointer. It was going to crush a girl trapped in debris..."

My brows shot up. The idea of my quirkless brother going head to head with that super sized machine and winning…

"That's incredible, Izuku," I said. "Way more heroic than taking down any of the smaller faux villains."

He bowed his head. "It won't be enough, though. Hana, will you tell me everything about UA?" he asked, looking up at me through heavy, wet lashes. "I still want to learn everything I can — I could even just borrow your class notes and copy them for my own studies and—"

"Don't think that way," I interrupted him, reaching out to place a hand on his knee. "Besides, I wouldn't want to go to a school that rewarded performance over heroism anyway. What's the point of a hero school like that?"

"No, Hana!" he said, perking up. "You have to go. You have to become a hero!"

Something in me snapped at his words. His passion was for himself, not for me. "What if I don't want to be a hero, Izzy! What if that's your dream? Why do I have to be a hero because I have a quirk and you can't be one because you don't? No. That's not fair." I stood from the bed, trying to soothe my shaking fists at my side. "Fuck that, Izuku. You deserve to be a hero."

I turned from the room, needing to put some distance between myself and this fight. I needed to cool down before we talked all of this out again.

"And you deserve to be whatever you want to be too, Hana."

I paused.

"Thank you," my brother said, his voice low. "I don't know if I've ever told you thank you for everything you've done for me over the years." I pivoted away from the door to face where he'd stood from his desk chair. "But I need to carry my burdens myself from now on."

My eyes flicked over his form, his newfound muscles and few new inches that set him above me — the steel in his stare.

"Alright then," I answered and left to my empty room save for one All Might poster.

* * *

Izuku and I received our letters from UA on the same day. We grabbed them from our mom and raced to watch them in our rooms. I pretended not to notice the way my mom only looked at Izuku with tears in her eyes.

I'd scored second in the practical exam. Out of everyone. I was given 67 points for the villains I'd destroyed and 11 for defeating the zero pointer as it could be seen as a potential rescue effort for the rest of the applicants. I thought it was a stretch, but I'd take it.

Katsuki was first with 77 villain points and 46 rescue points. They didn't explain anyone else's scores in my letter, but I would have bet money that was my fault.

You're welcome, Kacchan.

And then there, in seventh place, was my brother with 0 villain points and 60 rescue points.

My lower lip trembled. I could hear him burst out of his room and embrace our mom, their happy tears a force I could feel from my seat in my room.

We made it.

Somehow, we both made it.


	5. Chapter 5

**ITS THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! WOOOOO**

**MY CUT OFF FOR THIS CHAPTER WAS A LITTLE WEIRD WHOOPS**

**BUT THE NEXT CHAPTER SHOULD BE POSTED LATER TODAY SO ITS ALRIGHT**

**LEMME KNOW IF YOU LIKE MY LITTLE OC AND HER INTERNAL CONFLICTS ALONG WITH BAKUGOUS NEW CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT WITH HIS PAST BEING ALTERED! EITHER WAY I LOVE THEM SOOOOOO**

**YEAH LETS GO**

* * *

I straightened the pleats of my navy skirt one more time as I walked out my front door with my brother at my side. The morning sun was bright in April and I fought a shiver from the cool early air.

"Are you ready?"

Izuku was smiling at me despite his twitching nerves and rushed gait as we took off toward our first day of UA High School.

I smiled back. "Yeah," I said. "I think so."

"I'm wondering who will be in our class from the exams," he trailed off, a light blush darkening his cheeks.

I raised an eyebrow. "Why? Hoping to see someone specific?"

Izuku burst out in nervous laughter and scratched his head. "No, no. Of course not. Why would you say that?"

I bit back my grin. "Oh, no reason."

"I saw your score," he said after calming down. "You didn't say anything about doing so well, Hana."

We turned the corner toward our bus stop and I chewed my lip. "You never asked, I guess."

He bowed his head for a moment and we found open seats toward the front of the bus. "I'm sorry," he admitted softly. "But I'm not surprised. Aside from All Might, I can't imagine anyone stronger than you and Kacchan."

The image of an enraged Katsuki the last time I'd seen him as he saved me from the fiery arm of the zero pointer came to my mind unbidden.

"It was strange," I found myself saying as I twirled the end of my long green ponytail in my lap, "I've never let myself use as much of my quirk as I wanted to before. I had no idea what I was really capable of."

Izuku was staring at me with stars in his eyes. "I can't wait to see you in action!"

I chuckled. "Thanks, bro," I said with a pat to his head.

We didn't speak again until we found our way to the school and then our classroom.

"This is it," he muttered under his breath before opening the door.

"Remove your foot from that desk! Such an action is insulting to those who came to UA before us as well as the craftsman who made the desk!" a tall dark haired boy in glasses shouted at none other than Katsuki.

I sighed. Of course he would be in my class.

He opened his mouth to yell back, but caught a glimpse of us stepping through the doorway and stopped. Snarling, he pulled his feet down from the desk and crossed his arms. The action brought the tall boy's attention over to us and he booked it to my brother and I.

"I'm from Somei Private Academy. My name is Tenya Iida," he announced to us both.

I tilted my head to the side, eyeing my desk assignment behind his massive frame. Tenya was even taller than Katsuki.

"I'm Izuku Midoriya," my brother said. "And this is my twin, Hana Midoriya."

Luckily, Tenya quickly diverted all of his attention on my brother. "You perceived the true nature of that practical exam, while I did not," he told Izuku as he straightened his thinly rimmed glasses. "I misjudged you! I hate to admit it, but you were the superior candidate!"

I hadn't pressed Izuku on how exactly he'd taken down the zero pointer to earn his hero score, but apparently Tenya had witnessed it and deemed it impressive. I made to slip away from their conversation when I saw a familiar pink hand waving at me.

To my own surprise, I smiled at her genuinely. It had been years since I had female friends and something about the fact that she had been there to witness the events of the exam made me feel somewhat close to her already.

"I'm so glad you made it! I'm Mina Ashido," she introduced herself leaning over her desk that was only a step or two from the door.

A wide eyed girl popped her head over Mina's shoulder and grinned, "And I'm Tsuyu Asui! You can call me Tsu."

"I'm Hana Midoriya," I told them with a small wave. "It's nice to see a familiar face here," I said to Mina. "I'm gonna find my seat before class starts though."

She placed both hands on her desk and said, "Maybe we could all sit together at lunch sometime?"

"Sure," I smiled. "I'd like that."

I was looking for seat 16, counting from Mina's being seat 2…

Of course.

I set my bag down at the desk in front of Katsuki's, his irritation bubbling over me and I wondered for a moment if he was more outrageous when he was nervous.

"Following me through training and then the exam and now in class, Hanachan?" he growled over my shoulder as I sat.

I rolled my eyes, but ignored him. I didn't trust myself not to feed off of his fiery energy at the moment.

And then, just before the teacher stepped into class shuffling Izuku, Tenya, and a brunette girl with him, I heard Katsuki say, "I haven't seen you out running since the exam."

I started to look over my shoulder but then the teacher spoke up over the class as everyone herded over to their seats.

"I'm your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. Pleased to meet you." He was a lanky man, with long mangled black hair and heavy bags under his eyes. He looked as if he would rather be anywhere but here. "Quickly now. Change into your gym clothes and head out onto the grounds."

With that, he left us alone with our new clothes. Jaws dropped all over the room, but we scattered to grab our clothes and head to the locker rooms.

"What do you think this is?" a girl with short dark hair heavy eye makeup asked as she straightened her blue uniform top that matched the rest of us.

The brunette girl talking to my brother spoke up, "I don't know, but we're going to miss the opening ceremonies and counselor visits."

"UA has a lot more freedom than most institutions," the tallest of us said. Her thick black hair was pulled into a high ponytail and she chose to leave a portion of her top exposed. "That goes for the students and the teachers. Aizawa-Sensei can do as he likes, I suppose."

"Hey!" a familiar voice chirped beside me and I turned to see Mina grinning. "I just realized you placed second in the entrance exam! I'm not surprised with the way you took down that zero pointer!"

"You took down a zero pointer too?!" The brunette girl had run up beside Mina, holding her hands together in excitement. "Wow, you and Izuku must be from a powerful family for you both to have been the only ones to take zero pointers down!"

I hid my reaction with an impish shrug and tried to laugh off the comment. I had no idea how Izuku managed to take down a zero pointer, though I could only imagine it being from outsmarting it somehow.

And I didn't want anyone to realize my fear of my own quirk.

"I'm Uraraka Ochaco! I was in Battle Center B with your brother," the brunette chirped. "What's it like being a twin?"

"Uhh," I said, scratching my head. "Nice, I guess?"

"Come on you guys," the girl with short dark hair called out and I realized she had ear lobes that hung down into earphone jacks. "We're going to be late."

Aizawa-Sensei and the boys were already outside waiting for us. Izuku blended in with the crowd and I watched as the brunette girl ran up to his side cheerily. The others talked amongst themselves quietly and I walked up to Katsuki standing off to the side and crossed my arms to wait. His eyes flicked over to me and he snarled his lip a bit before Aizawa-Sensei addresses us all.

"We will be testing your quirks to know where you all stand," he announced.

"...a test of our quirks?!" Izuku gasped.

The brunette stepped forward, "But what about the entrance ceremony? Our guidance sessions?"

"No time to waste on that stuff if you want to become hero's," Aizawa-Sensei monotoned. "UA is known for its "freestyle" educational system. That applies to us teachers as well." He slipped his hands in his pockets and looked over the group, making solemn eye contact with each of us one at a time. "Softball throwing, standing long jump, the 50-meter dash, endurance running, grip strength, side-to-side stepping, upper body training, seated toe touch," he listed off as he looked as us all. "You all did these in middle school, yes? Your standard, no-quirks-allowed gym tests. Well, today you're doing them with your quirks."

I sucked in a breath and cursed myself internally knowing Katsuki would have definitely noticed. I believed my quirk was strong by now, but I had no idea how to use it so practically. Besides, in order to have a fire big enough to make an impact I'd have to steal from Katsuki and that was shameful in a situation like this.

"Bakugo," Aizawa-Sensei said and the class turned to look toward us. "How far could you throw in middle school?"

"Sixty-seven meters," he answered and Sensei threw him the softball.

"Great, now try it with your quirk. Do whatever you need to, just don't leave the circle."

Katsuki smirked as he eyed the ball in his hands. "Awesome," he mumbled, stretching. He stepped into the circle and reared back. I could feel the heat of the fire in his explosion as his pitch launched the ball with a boom out of our sight, the blowback throwing all of our hair back.

"It's important for us to know our limits," Sensei said, drawing the class's attention away from Katsuki. He turned a small black device toward us revealing 705.2 meters on its screen. "That's the first rational step to figuring out what kind of heroes you'll be."

The class burst into comments about Katsuki's throw and how awesome this would be and how excited they were to be able to use their quirks. Someone shouted out about how fun it was going to be and Sensei turned on them.

"Fun? You're hoping to become heroes after three years here and you think it will all be fun and games?" he asked us rhetorically, his voice reaching a frightening low. I swallowed hard as he continued, "Right then. The one with the lowest score across all eight events will be judged as hopeless and will be expelled."

Everyone froze as a terrifying smile drew up on Sensei's face. "Welcome to the UA hero course."

Everyone began to brace themselves and I could see Izuku trembling from my place off to the side. Katsuki returned beside me and I could see the excitement in his eyes. He already knew he would thrive in these tests.

Darkly, I considered that all I would need to do was surpass the weakest among us to survive. I flexed my arms as I clenched my hands into fists. I might not have super speed or super strength, but after ten months of rigorous physical training with Katsuki I knew that I would at least be able to stand out as the most physically fit of the girls, I thought as I eyed my competition.

We labored through each test and I watched in awe of those whose quirks helped them considerably, Katsuki being the obvious front runner who revelled in the challenge of it all. I forced my discouragement to the back of my mind and focused on using this to test my growth from the last time I'd taken these tests in middle school, long before I'd begun training for the entrance exam.

I ran beside a blonde boy with a tail who used it against the ground to leap ahead of me, but I still finished with a faster time than anyone else who wasn't using a quirk for enhancement. That was the rhythm I fell into and I forced myself to be satisfied with it, though my attention was starting to drift to trying to find ways to make my quirk more useful.

I clenched my teeth thinking of trying to grow my dad's fire breathing into something more substantial to manipulate before pushing the thought away.

The last event arrived and we were back at the softball pitch. Izuku stepped up looking pale.


	6. Chapter 6

**TOLD YA IT WOULD BE UP TODAY**

**THIS ONE WAS FUN! NOW THINGS WILL REALLY GET MOVING**

**AND IM SORRY BUT MY HEEEEEART**

**LESSSSS GOOOOO**

* * *

"Midoriya isn't doing very well," Iida mumbled and I looked over at him past Katsuki.

"Well, duh," Katsuki barked, "he's a quirkless runt."

I jammed my foot down on top of his and he whipped his head around to burn his eyes into my skull. I slit my eyes back at him.

"Quirkless?!" Iida said, drawing our attention back to him. So you haven't heard about his feats during the entrance exam?"

"Huh?" Katsuki mumbled and I watched Iida closely until Izuku stepped into the circle ahead of us and reared back his pitch.

His throw landed a soft 46 meters away and he paled, looking back at the class with confusion before his eyes locked on Aizawa-Sensei.

Sensei's long black hair had been blown up by his power as he stared at my brother. He approached him with a damning look in his eyes and they spoke heatedly out of our range of hearing.

"It seems he's getting special instruction," Iida commented.

"Or threatened," Katsuki added and I idly noted how strange it was to hear him communicate with others without yelling.

Sensei stepped back and told my brother to go ahead and throw once more. A line of sweat formed on Izuku's brow and he looked down for a beat before reentering the circle. He took a few moments to prepare before rearing back once more only this time, there was a look of determination in his eyes I hadn't seen since he'd come home in a rush that day to tell me he would be taking the entrance exams — that he would be a hero like All Might.

And like me.

Izuku launched the ball, sparks of energy coming to life in his hand at the last possible second and the softball launched out of sight with a shock wave of power.

My heart dropped. My brother had a quirk.

Izuku's brunette friend who'd just scored an infinity on this throw with her zero gravity quirk broke out in a cheer, "Woo! Now that's a hero-like record if I ever saw one!"

"His fingers appear to be swollen," Iida mumbled to my side. "Thinking back to the entrance exam… what a strange quirk."

I stood frozen, staring at my brother — my Izzy. He was the boy whose tears I dried, who I fought for on the playground, who I always made sure was okay. And he had a quirk.

And he didn't tell me.

"WHAT THE HELL DEKU?!" Katsuki shouted above everyone's muttering as he lit his palms and launched himself toward my brother. Almost reflexively, I lifted a hand toward his explosions and quieted the fires as I'd done so many other times and Katsuki fell to the dirt with a thud.

He snapped to his feet and whirled on me in a rage before looking into my eyes. I wanted to yell back at him, to chew him out, but for some reason I couldn't feel a fire in me to do it. So I just shook my head and Katsuki lowered his empty palms, crossing his arms over his chest and glared over at Izuku as he walked back over to the brunette sheepishly.

I felt a pair of eyes on me and I turned my head to see Iida watching our exchange. "So you can cancel quirks as well then, Midoriya-Chan? What an incredibly powerful quirk."

"Tch," Katsuki scoffed. "She wishes. The only quirk she can cancel is MINE," he shouted, his frustrations rolling over onto me.

"Go take a cold shower or something, Kacchan," I snapped at him and stepped away from the others.

My eyes found Izuku talking with his new friend and I noticed I hadn't once seen him looking over to me like he once would have. No, I suppose, he didn't need to look for me anymore. He could help himself now with a quirk like that.

Something happened to him the day of the sludge monster attack. Everything had changed. I felt like…

I felt like my sidekick was gone.

Nibbling my bottom lip, I scolded myself. It was insulting to think that way. Izuku was not beneath me, nor did I look down on him. Or did I?

He'd always been by my side, always within reach, but for the last year he had almost separated from me completely. To have not come bursting into my room to celebrate that he'd discovered his quirk? That was not the same Izuku I'd always known.

I clenched my fist just as I heard Mina's voice call out, "Hana!"

She ran up beside me and I noticed we were all retreating back to the locker rooms. "Hey, Mina," I said, pulling a smile out onto my face.

"You did really well!"

My brow furrowed and I suddenly realized I hadn't paid any attention to the results. "Oh! Who was expelled?! How did I miss it?!"

But Mina just gave a small chuckle and sighed, "Turns out it was a ruse from Sensei to get us to work harder. No one is expelled." I felt my shoulders relax at her words. "You tied with me though! Momo got first but we didn't use our quirks at all so we should be proud! We even somehow beat Uraraka even after she scored an infinity on the softball throw!"

I looked over to infinity girl who was walking in with my brother and Iida. "Does she like my brother or something?" I asked turning to Mina who paled.

"I-uh. I don't know! I don't know her that well, but why do you ask?" she rambled, fidgeting with her hair as we walked together back inside.

"Just wondering," I answered as we stepped through the door to the girls locker room. I stepped over to where I'd stowed my school uniform and stopped to stretch again before changing.

"Hana, right?"

I let go of my ankle and pulled myself back up to my full height which paled in comparison to the stature of the dark haired girl before me with the wild black high ponytail. I nodded to her and she offered me a small smile.

"I'm Momo Yaoyorozu," she said. "You can call me Momo. Is Hana alright for you?"

I felt myself lighten up around her calming presence. "Yes, that's fine."

"I saw what you did out there with Bakugou. He said you can only cancel out his quirk?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"Ah," I breathed, pausing. "Not exactly. I can control fire, including putting them out."

"That would make such a great rescue hero!" another voice chimed in just as infinity girl stepped around a wall of lockers.

"It would be extremely useful as a rescue hero, kero," Tsu added, joining our small group that drew the attention of the rest of the girls who gathered around. "Think of the burning buildings you could save or the forest fires you could stop."

"Yeah," I said, feeling a blush creeping up my neck at all their attention.

"But you guys should have seen her fight the zero pointer!" Mina nearly shouted and they all turned to her. "She burned the entire thing down to the ground!" she cheered with a fist to the air.

I rubbed the back of my head before pulling my elbow into a stretch. "I can't produce fires to fight that way though, so it's not exactly reliable in a battle."

"Is that why you and Bakugou are so close?" Uraraka asked and I choked, bringing my fist to my chest as if I could knock some air into my lungs.

"What?! No," I refuted.

But Uraraka's eyes were twinkling already and Momo's smile curved into something sinister.

"You would be the best hero couple anyone's ever seen!" Mina said, holding her fists to her cheeks, shaking with cuteness.

I reached for my clothes suddenly ready to flee from the locker room. Is this why I could never keep girl friends very close? They're always so in my business…

"Hey," the girl with the earphone jacks butted in as she slipped her uniform shirt back on, "Its okay. They're just excited that someone here already has a little bit of drama. I'm sure they'll all have your own soon enough. I'm Kyoka Jiro, by the way."

"Yeah," Uraraka agreed, "It's just that we're all just now meeting, but you, Deku, and Bakugou have been friends all your lives. I guess we're just a little anxious for ourselves in a new place."

"I would hardly say Midoriya and Bakugou are friends by the looks between them," Momo said, lifting a thoughtful finger to her chin. "But he seems normal enough around you."

"Did you see the way he looked at her after she cancelled his explosions?" Uraraka said dreamily.

"Murderously?" Tsu kero-ed.

Uararka spun on her, "After that!"

I found myself actually wishing I was around Katsuki's comfortable silence over the bombarding questions of all the girls. "Yeah, I guess you could say that," I said to Momo before eyeing the bathroom stalls. "Now, uh, I'm going to finish changing."

"Oh!" Uraraka chirped, throwing her hands up to her face. "So sorry! We'll give you some privacy," she said before shooing all the others back toward their lockers to all finish getting ready.

I sighed, grateful for the space and finished putting my uniform back on before heading back to the classroom for my curriculum documents, avoiding eye contact with anyone else. I didn't think I was prepared for anymore new friends today. I stepped out the front doors to see Izuku walking with Iida and Uraraka, all animated in conversation and I put my head down and kept walking.

If Izuku was finally thriving, I didn't want to stand in his way.

"You realize I'm gonna have to kick your ass for embarrassing me like that, right?"

I looked up from the cobblestones to see Katsuki leaning against the pillar of the UA entrance arch and I couldn't help the small smile of relief that spread across my lips. "Bring it," I said quietly.

He huffed and pushed off the pillar to fall into step beside me. We walked in silence all the way to the bus and I felt the weight of the day melt away in the familiar habit.

I rested my head back in my seat with Katsuki listening to music with headphones over his ears on my right when I felt someone sit next to me. I turned instinctively to see the man staring at my short uniform skirt. Katsuki must have noticed too, because he adjusted beside me, placing a hand on my knee but I turned to the stranger who looked me in the eyes.

I snarled my lip and opened my mouth to let my single flame fall from between my teeth. The man's brows shot up and he fled to find another seat. I crossed my arms over my chest, habitually trying to press my still fairly new breasts down.

Stupid.

I turned to see Katsuki pulling his headphones up from his neck and back over his ears while shaking his head with a dark chuckle.

We walked the rest of the way back to my house in silence, though he didn't wear his headphones outside of the bus. I couldn't help but worry about Izuku. Maybe I should have stayed and waited for him to finish with his friends so he didn't have to walk home alone.

"We're running in the morning," Katsuki said as we approached my front door and my eyes darted over to him. I remembered what he'd said in the classroom earlier, _I haven't seen you out running since the exam. _

I nodded and moved to turn toward my front door.

"You didn't know either, did you?"

I rested my hand on the knob. "No," I answered under my breath. "I didn't know." And then I stepped inside without looking back at him and went straight to my room.


	7. Chapter 7

**AND HERE IS A RANDOM SEMI FLUFFY CHAPTER**

**HONESTLY THIS SORTA JUST HAPPENED **

**IM EXCITED TO DEVELOP HANA AND BAKUGO MORE - BOTH TOGETHER AND SEPARATELY **

**NOT TO MENTION IZUKU AND HANA STILL HAVE SO MUCH IN STORE**

**BUT YEAH**

**I LOVE SOFTER KACCHAN**

**REVIEW AND LEMME KNOW IF YOU LIKE IT!**

* * *

I woke up early and leapt out of bed, rushing around my room to throw on a clean outfit to run in. I found a pair of tight black shorts I preferred, but was out of clean white tees. I sighed, settling for a tighter fitting green tank top I'd gotten to match my hair before darting downstairs to put my shoes on before Katsuki could start pounding on the door and waking up the rest of the house.

When I stepped outside I found myself surprised that he wasn't there waiting. We'd never planned for him to wait for me all the times we'd run together or walked to and from school together, but it was a normalcy I didn't really see until it was gone.

I took off in a light jog toward his house, chills rising on my skin in the crisp early morning air. It was still dark out and I made sure to keep my head up and alert for the short trip to Katsuki's.

I thought about thanking him for all the times he went out of his way for me without me asking, even though I could guess his response to that. It made me wonder if maybe I was overlooking the normalcy I had with my brother too. All this time I was blaming our distance on him and his changes, but maybe I needed to reach out to Izuku.

I missed my twin.

When I got to Katsuki's he wasn't outside, but there was a light on in the kitchen. It had been a while since I'd seen his parents, but it was more likely that he was the one downstairs making coffee or toast so I slowed my jog to walk the last few steps to his front door and gave it two soft knocks just in case.

Shuffling and then footsteps came from the other side of the door before it cracked open. Katsuki's calm, dark haired father stood in the doorway and smiled when he saw me.

"Hana-chan," he said brightly, sounding fully awake. He was wearing his business clothes, a creaseless white button up and tie that contrasted with his son's personality strikingly. "What can I do for you?"

I dipped my chin toward him. "Masaru-san, good morning," I said with a scratchy voice. "I was supposed to run with Kacchan this morning."

Masaru Bakugo smiled warmly and opened up the door wider to let me inside. "I believe he may have slept through his alarm then. You can wake him up if you'd like. I'm on my way out the door for work."

"Ah, I, okay," I answered, stepping through the doorway. I wasn't unfamiliar with their home, having visited multiple times in grade school, but that was years ago.

Sure enough, Masaru reached for a briefcase and headed for the door. "It's good to see you again, Hana-chan. I hope to see more of you," he said with a grin before leaving me in their living room alone.

I looked over at their floating stairs and sighed. This was not going to go well.

I approached Katsuki's room with the same apprehension I felt before the entrance exams and decided to try knocking a few times before daring to go inside. I could already hear him yelling at me for wasting time with being timid as I waited a few beats before finally sucking in a deep breath and throwing the door open.

He was curled up beneath dark sheets, sleeping soundly and I cursed under my breath. I should have just gone on the run alone. I let myself marvel at a peaceful looking Katsuki for a second or two before I called out from the doorway, "Kacchan."

He didn't move.

"Kacchan," I said a little louder, not risking getting any closer in case he was feeling a little explosive when he woke up. "Kacchan!"

Finally, he moved. Rolling over to his back, he pulled his hands up to his face and I heard a quiet, "Hanachan?"

"Kacchan, you're lucky I'm a better person than you or your ass would have been left behind," I shot off into the stillness of his dark room, hoping to cover the awkwardness of how gentle his voice was in the morning.

He sat up slowly, letting the sheets fall away from his bare chest and turned to look at me. "Why the fuck are you here?" he grumbled before whipping his head over to his phone and pressing a button to no response. "My phone fucking died," he growled as he plugged it into the cord on the wall and hopped out of bed to turn on a small light.

His room was ordinary. Video games and laundry were strewn about and I watched as he dug through a drawer to pull out a black tank top before slipping it on over all the muscles I swear I wasn't looking at. After pulling black joggers over his thin sleep shorts and grabbing some socks, he finally looked at me again and huffed. "I would have left my dumb ass behind."

"One of us has to be the better person," I sniped back at him before turning to head back downstairs. We put our shoes on quickly and stepped out into the still-dark morning.

His face was still unusually peaceful as we set off on our usual route. Normally, we kept quiet for the entire run, but today my mind was spinning with too many things in the wake of our first day.

"Can we try working our quirks together sometime?"

He didn't look at me. "We've done that before."

"I mean in a setting where we don't have to hold back," I countered in rhythm to our steps.

This time he slid his eyes over to me. "As long as we can go head to head sometime, too."

My lips parted. "Me going against you? You'll destroy me."

He grunted. "You've gone against me all our lives, why not now?"

"I-I…" I stammered, but the more I thought about it, he was right. This was what I trained for. "Alright then."

"Who has the advantage?" he asked me with his Sensei-tone.

"If anyone, you — only because you have more physical strength and training."

"Why?" he prodded.

"Because I can make your quirk worthless, but I don't have an organic quirk to fight back with," I answered as we passed the park.

"Good enough," he muttered. "You need to work on that fucking fire breathing so you can be useful for something."

I would have nodded if we weren't bouncing along as dawn cracked over the horizon. "I'm working on it," I affirmed. "We need to cut it short or we'll be late."

He grunted in reply and we curved around the park, cutting off almost half our route and started to head back.

"We'd make a good team, you know," I said after we cleared the park completely and turned a corner.

"Of course I know," he growled. "Why do you think I've been training with you?"

Something I didn't know was there hurt when he said that. Maybe it was those _feelings _I had pushed down so long ago, but apparently it was for good reason. Katsuki's only interest in me was as a sidekick.

I kept my mouth shut the rest of the way back despite Katsuki looking over at me every once in a while and grumbling under his breath. When we reached the crossroads for our houses, I stopped.

"You can go ahead and run back home, I'll be fine. We don't want to be late," I added, cursing myself and my stupid feelings.

Katsuki crosses his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes, "Hanachan—"

"I'll see you at school," I said with finality before turning and sprinting the last leg home.


	8. Chapter 8

**HELLO I AM BACK FOR ANOTHER**

**AND HONESTLY IVE NEVER GOTTEN SO MANY NEGATIVE REVIEWS ON THIS SITE BEFORE SO THATS SAD**

**SO HEY IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING POSITIVE TO SAY THAT WOULD BE SUPER PLUS ULTRA OF YOU! ANYONE CAN BE A HERO RIGHT?**

**OKAY OKAY PITY PARTY OVER**

**LETS GET TO THE SECOND DAY OF SCHOOL!**

**WOOO**

* * *

"Izu!" I shouted as I ran into the kitchen seeing my brother headed for the front door with his yellow backpack across his shoulders. "Wait for me?"

He turned around with a half grin and scratched his head. "Sure."

I ran back to my room to get a pair of socks and my orange bag before rejoining him and struggling to get my shoes on as quickly as possible while holding a piece of toast in my teeth.

Izuku let out a chuckle. "You know, you kind of look like me right now."

I bit down on the toast when I was done and opened the front door. "I kind of always look like you?"

He laughed out loud. "You know that's not what I mean!"

"I know," I smiled. I was glad to see that Katsuki wasn't waiting for me when we stepped outside and headed toward the bus. It was warming up outside and I braced my hand on a strap of my bag thinking of the hot summer ahead of with anticipation. I looked over at Izuku who was walking with his chin up and his eyes bright. "How's your finger?" I asked.

"Heh," he breathed, pulling up his good hand to hold the one he had broken during the fitness tests yesterday. "It's fine. Recovery girl fixed me up after school. I never saw you leave."

"You were talking with Iida and Uraraka. I didn't want to interrupt at the time, but I regretted not coming over to walk home with you later," I rambled.

"You walked home by yourself?" he asked, raising a brow as we turned a corner.

"Uh, no," I stammered. "But you did. I'm sorry I left you."

"It's okay," he said looking down. "I've had a lot going on lately…" he trailed off. "I'm sorry I've been so preoccupied with myself. It's not fair to you."

I set my eyes on the bus ahead of us. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have taken your distance so harshly. I only made it worse for both of us."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, uh," I muttered. "I guess after you were basically gone for ten months training I was maybe a little bitter. I missed you so much and it didn't feel like you missed me. So, I guess I've been to blame for my own torture."

We stepped on the bus together and I could feel the gears in his brain spinning.

"I didn't stop to think about how my actions would affect you," he said finally as we took seats at the front.

"We could go back and forth apologizing all day," I told him with a weak smile. "So let's just try not to do it anymore? I miss being close to you. I feel like I know nothing about you anymore," I said, rambling again. Izuku had always muttered when he's thinking and I have always rambled when I'm feeling.

"I, uh, I'm sorry. That's my fault." He paused for a while and I could tell he was wanting to say more. "I'm sure you're curious about my quirk…"

"Um, yeah," I said matter-of-fact.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I discovered it during the whole sludge monster thing and someone watching offered to mentor me and, well, I guess I just got so caught up in the possibility that I could finally be a hero that I lost sight of everything else."

"Mhm," I nodded. So he knew he had a quirk when he came home that day of the sludge monster incident and didn't tell me. There was another day when I would have called him out on it, but at that moment I was just happy to be really talking to him again that it didn't feel worth the fight. "I'm proud of you — not just for your quirk but for your hard work and the friendships you've already made."

His cheeks turned a light pink. "Thank you, Hanachan. I'm proud of you too. You seem so much stronger than you used to be and your reflexes stopping Kacchan yesterday were incredibly fast."

The bus pulled to a stop and we rose from our seats. "Yeah, I ended up spending all that time while you were off training to train myself."

"That's awesome," he said enthusiastically. He'd always been obsessed with different types of quirks and everything related to heroes. "Some of the guys were talking about the way you took down your zero pointer in the locker rooms yesterday. Apparently it was insanely powerful."

I shrugged as we turned the corner and UA came into view. "I have a really good grasp on controlling the fire at this point, but I feel useless not being able to produce one larger than a nectarine on my own."

"Just another thing to train then I guess," he laughed before turning guilty eyes to me as we walked through the archway. "Did you train by yourself that whole time I was off with a Sensei?"

"Huh? Oh, no, I trained with Kacchan."

He stopped in his tracks. "Kacchan?"

"Yeah?" I said looking back at him with confusion.

"I don't know, he's just always so mad at everything. Honestly, he's kind of an asshole," he stumbled over the curse at the end as we started walking again.

I grinned. "Yeah, he is definitely an asshole. But he's actually very intelligent as far as strategy goes and our quirks work together extremely well." I shrugged. "And it's kind of nice to have a running partner."

I thought back to Katsuki telling me he'd only trained with me so our quirks could work together and I bit my lower lip.

"You run with him?! You've never run with anyone before — not even me!"

"I don't know," I said off-handedly before feeling myself about to ramble out more than I wanted to say but I couldn't stop it. "I guess I just like him. He's nice to be around."

He froze again, this time just steps away from our classroom door. "Are we talking about the same person? You know he bullied some of the kids in grade school, right? He tried to bully us."

"I used to chase boys on the playground to try and kick them in the balls and I'm not that person anymore, am I? Why does he have to be?" I looked over to see some of our classmates heading toward us. "Don't judge a book by its cover, Izu," I said before heading inside.

Katsuki was already at his desk and I didn't acknowledge him as I sat down in front of him.

The first half of the day dragged by slowly as our core classes officially started. It was fun to have a different pro hero teach the same bland subjects we were used to from middle school. Still, everyone was relieved to be released for lunch especially knowing that our hero courses would begin afterwards.

"Hana-chan!"

I turned with my tray to see Mina sitting with a group from our class near a window. I looked over to where Izuku had sat down with Iida and Uraraka and told myself I would sit with them tomorrow before returning Mina's eager smile with one of my own. Of course, it wavered when I saw that Katsuki was also sitting with her group of friends who had already started eating.

I waved when I walked up to their table and took the only seat left which was unsurprisingly next to my eternally irritable blonde friend, but also across from Mina. The pink-skinned girl and Kyoka were both there, but I hadn't met any of the boys yet and I wondered if maybe I was antisocial.

"Hi everyone," I said as cheerily as I could, but Katsuki cut me a skeptical glance. "I'm Hana Midoriya," I introduced myself as I looked at all the boys.

"We know!" the red-headed boy on Katsuki's other side said as he fearlessly leaned toward me over Katsuki. "You stopped Bakugou in his tracks yesterday! And Mina here told us about how you took down the zero pointer in the entrance exam! I'm surprised you didn't get first over Bakugou in the scores."

"Well the zero pointer is actually why I didn't beat him," I said casually as I picked at my food. "If I hadn't taken on the zero pointer he wouldn't have had to save me from the debris and earn himself rescue points that blew my score out of the water."

When no one answered I looked up and saw them all staring at me. "What?"

The redhead looked at me incredulously. "So you're telling me he rescued you?" he asked holding back laughter.

"If that's what she fucking said then that's what she fucking said, moron," Katsuki snapped between us and everyone else flinched back.

The boys across from me looked between me and Katsuki in bewilderment. The blonde finally spoke up. "And you guys are like… friends?"

"Why? Does that surprise you?" Katsuki challenged.

"That you have friends?" Kyoka said, making herself known at the end of the table. "Yeah, actually."

Katsuki turned enraged eyes over to the girl with earphone jacks hanging from her ears sitting across from us.

I sighed and shoved Katsuki's foot under the table which he answered with a glare at me. "Yeah, we're friends," I told the table.

"Wow," the dark haired boy said from his spot across from Katsuki.

"I'm Eijiro Kirishima, by the way," the redhead said with an apologetic smile.

"Oh wow sorry," the blonde beside Kyoka said as I noticed the black streak in his hair. "I'm Denki Kaminari."

"And I'm Hanto Sero," the dark haired boy said with a nod. "You just caught us off guard with your Bakugou experiences," he laughed.

"Nice to meet you," I smiled at them before looking over to my brother's table where he happened to be looking over at me. He saw my smile and smiled back and my heart swelled. I was glad to have finally talked to him about everything. Now hopefully everything could go back to normal — or as normal as it could be in a hero school.

We managed to finish up lunch with no other high pressure conversations by steering away from Bakugou related topics. Turns out Mina has an acid quirk while Kyoka's ears give her lots of sound abilities. Kirishima hardens his whole body like a rock, Kaminari can produce electricity, and Sero showed us a bit of the tape that's stored in his elbows.

The walk back to class was quiet with Katsuki at my side until Izuku shot up beside me.

"Hey guys," he said brightly, though looking more at Katsuki than me. "Are you ready for the first hero course?"

His lack of nerves sent mine in a spiral. "Um, I guess?" I answered.

"Of course I am," Katsuki said, his tone dripping with arrogance. "That's what I came here for."

I rolled my eyes and looked back over at my brother who was glaring at Katsuki in a way I'd never seen him look at anything. "Uh, Izuku, are you okay?"

He snapped out of it to return my glance and let out a small laugh. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"No reason," I said, my voice trailing off.

We found our seats quickly and most of the students were early as we all eagerly anticipated what might be in store for our first hero lesson.

"Do you think they'll just be going over the laws for pros?" Kirishima asked no one in particular.

"It would make sense to start with the fundamentals," Momo added.

Uraraka perked up in her seat. "I bet we do more tests like yesterday!"

"It would be nice to see a little action again after this morning, kero," Tsu said and Mina turned in her chair to agree.

"I HAVE COME THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

We all sat up straight and turned our attention to the front as All Might theatrically came into our classroom. Giggles and cheers of excitement sounded from everyone and I admit, I had to restrain myself from blurting out something ridiculous.

But come on. It was ALL MIGHT.

"HERO BASIC TRAINING," he declared over us all. "THE CLASS THAT'LL PUT YOU THROUGH ALL SORTS OF SPECIAL TRAINING TO MOLD YOU INTO HEROES! NO TIME TO DALLY. TODAY'S ACTIVITY IS THIS….

"BATTLE TRAINING!"


	9. Chapter 9

**WOW OK SO**

**SORRY ABOUT MY LITTLE PITY PARTY ON THE LAST CHAPPIE BUT YEAH I WAS SAD**

**BUUUUUT I WRITE THIS BECAUSE I LOVE THE IDEA OF A SOFT NON-CANON KACCHAN AAAAND WHILE I ENJOY FEM IZUKU FICS I ALSO LOVE OUR PRECIOUS IZUKU THE WAY HE IS**

**SO YEAH THIS WAS BORN**

**ALSO I HAD TO SPLIT THIS INTO TWO CHAPTERS BECAUSE OF THE LENGTH I LIKE MY CHAPTERS SOOOO THE SECOND HALF OF THIS WILL BE UP IN LIKE TWO MINUTES**

**THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! MAKES ME SO HAPPY**

**ALSO I LITERALLY LOL'D AT THE COMMENT ABOUT HANA SHOUTING AT ALL MIGHT THAT HE SHOULD SEE HER BROTHERS ROOM AND THEN KATSUKI SECONDING IT SIGH**

**OK OK ENOUGH OF ME... HERE IT IS! DEKU V KACCHAN! PT 1! **

* * *

I was the last one out of the girls locker room, but I couldn't stop staring at my reflection in the full length mirror. I wasn't much of a designer so when I was supposed to come up with an outline for the school to send out to get my costume made I had decided it might be better left to the professionals. Instead of styles and cuts I wanted, I described my quirk and listed my favorite colors but otherwise gave them the freedom to whatever they felt would be best suited.

The result was… well, incredible. I looked straight out of a comic book.

They made me a fire resistant skin tight black bodysuit with cutouts on the thighs and upper arms for a little ventilation. There were thick bands of red-orange lining that rose from my ankles to belt at my waist and curve up and around my chest fading like a flame all the way to my shoulders. My boots were black and heavy and my mask was a simple black eye cover.

I felt… kinda hot. And surprisingly flexible.

I stretched my arms for a moment, marveling at the stretchy material before finally turning to join the others outside hoping that I wasn't excessively late and would cause a scene.

The others were all gathered and excitedly talking about each other's costumes when I joined them and I looked over to Izuku. Grinning, I ran over to his side and gently touched one of his green All Might ears.

"This is awesome Izuku," I said smiling.

Uraraka came up at my side. "It's so cute!"

I looked up at Uraraka and her pink and white costume that played on a girly spacesuit and smiled again, "Wow, you're adorable!"

"Aw, thanks Hana," she answered with a blush. "You look…"

"Sexyyyyy," a voice said and we all looked down to see the shortest student in our class with drool gushing down from his mouth.

I narrowed my eyes at him before another voice chimed — or, well, blasted — in. "CAN YOU GUYS CATCH UP TO THE REST OF US? I'M FUCKING READY!"

"Kacchan?" Izuku muttered as the taller blonde boy came over to our group, shoving the pervy boy out of the way before turning back toward the class with a maniacally happy grin.

Everyone's hero costume varied from simpler jumpsuits like mine to the more complicated like, who I assumed was Iida, the one with the full body suit making him look more like a machine and Katsuki's which bore massive grenade-like gauntlets on his wrists that took up most of his forearms.

I wondered how much they could possibly weigh and thought back to our strength training and just how severely he outmatched me.

"You're staring," Uraraka whispered beside me and I fought and lost to the blush that crept over my cheeks. The slightly taller girl giggled. "Don't worry, your brother is over there," she said pointing to where Izuku had joined the majority of the class. "I won't tell anyone."

I didn't look at her, but the thought of my own suspicions of her feelings for my brother came to the forefront of my mind. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"It's okay," she reassured me. "We all think he likes you anyway."

My mouth popped open just as All Might burst out in front of us with his signature smile.

"ARE YOU ALL READY FOR BATTLE DUOS?!"

* * *

After All Might explained the rules of the exercise which consisted of two villains concealing and protecting a faux nuclear weapon within a multi-level building and the heroes trying to capture either it or the villains with tape, we drew for our partners. I nibbled at my bottom lip as I looked around at the class knowing there were still so many of them I hadn't met yet.

When it was my turn, I stepped up to All Might who turned his famous smile on me.

"Young Midoriya-chan! A pleasure to meet you," he said before offering me the lot box.

"The pleasure is mine, All Might," I managed to say with little to no stuttering at his presence. I looked up at him curiously not remembering him introduce himself to any of the other students before reaching for the ball inside the box.

B.

I gave All Might my ball and he held it up for the class as he'd done for everyone else. "Looks like you're with Shouto Todoroki, Midoriya-chan!"

I turned to see a boy with his hair half red and half white with a stark burn over his left eye. I'd seen him around the class, but hadn't witnessed him socializing with anyone. I approached him and mustered up a small smile for an introduction.

"Todoroki? I'm Hana Midoriya."

"Hello," he said formally before an awkward silence fell between us as the draw continued.

"Um," I stammered. "Should we think of a strategy?"

"We don't really need one," he said simply. I frowned at him and he continued, "I'll take care of it."

I tilted my head to the side. "Shouldn't we at least attempt a strategy that involves teamwork?"

"Honestly?" He looked at me with his eyes that were also two different colors and I swallowed. "It would be easier and faster to just let me take care of it."

"I mean," I started, "if you're going to refuse to work with me there's not really anything I can do. I won't betray the team, but could you at least humor me? What's your quirk?"

He sighed and stared over my shoulder for a while before responding. "Most people call it half-hot, half-cold."

My anxiety loosened and I started to get excited. "Fire and ice? That's actually perfect!" I said, keeping my voice low as the draw wrapped up. "I can manipulate fire. You can throw me some fire and then use your ice and we're a pretty strong front."

"No," he said.

Before I could attempt to argue my point further, the drawings were finished and it was time to draw for matches. All Might reached in a lot box for villains and for heroes and pulled out letters A and D and I turned to the rest of the class to see who was up first.

Katsuki was beaming from where he stood next to an unreadable Iida and I felt a little rush at getting to watch Katsuki in battle. Uraraka was squealing with enthusiasm next to my brother who was glaring over at Katsuki with that same harsh expression he'd had in the hallway and my heart dropped.

I was suddenly not too eager to watch this fight.

"ALRIGHT! EVERYONE ELSE UP TO THE OBSERVATION DECK!" All Might directed us and the class aside from Katsuki, Iida, Izuku, and Uraraka shuffled off toward the monitor room. I followed behind them next to Todoroki who was almost visibly hating my presence before looking back to see Izuku and Katsuki having a glare-off.

I chewed my bottom lip again before I stepped out of sight.

The monitor room was fantastic, offering over a dozen angles of the empty building's interior. Iida and Katsuki walked in through the front to set up their villain mission and the cameras they passed grew larger on the screen. Motion sensored, cool.

"Heh, Bakugou seems a little too much like a villain for this," Kaminari said as he stepped up to the banister that separated us from the screens.

"At least he's in character?" Kirishima answered looking over at me. I creased my brows and he shrugged and looked back at the screens.

"Who has the advantage," I mumbled to myself softly.

"The villains," Todoroki answered and I jumped, not realizing he was standing behind me toward the back of the group.

"Why?" I asked him, eager to compare our theories.

"The villains know where the weapon is. They're setting the precedent for the fight while the heroes have to react to them."

"Yep," I agreed.

"That is, unless they're severely outmatched," Todoroki added and I looked over at him.

"Is that why you won't work with me? You think you outmatch everyone in class that much?"

He shifted his head back and forth as if to say, more or less.

The battle started and I shifted my attention back to the screens in front of us all.

"You should probably go up to the front," Todoroki said beside me. "It's gotta be hard for you to see."

I made a rude noise at him and shifted on my feet. I'd made it almost two days of school before anyone pointed out what I had noticed almost immediately yesterday.

I am incredibly small.

But at least I was still taller than the pervy purple balls guy, right?


	10. Chapter 10

**ENTER TODOROKI! *swoons***

**ALRIGHT PART TWO OF DEKU V KACCHAN!**

**LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS THINK OF MY CHANGES TO THIS SCENE! **

**AS ALWAYS THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS!**

**WOO LETS GO**

* * *

Izuku and Uraraka entered together, wandering the halls slowly and whispering to each other, though we couldn't hear them. They reached the second floor before Iida came zooming around the corner and I remembered how fast the engines in his calves made him during the fitness tests yesterday.

The heroes took off down another hallway and Iida gave chase. Izuku and Uraraka sprinted ahead into one of the shorter halls that split and they each took separate turns just before Iida came flying in behind them. He mumbled something before choosing to go right — after Uraraka.

But we had already seen her activate her quirk, floating herself flat against the ceiling so he zoomed right by her into the next hall before he was sent on a wild goose chase for no one.

Meanwhile Izuku had climbed higher in the building, a determined look on his face that bordered on anger and I clenched my fist at my side. He was searching for the weapon — and for Katsuki.

Uraraka's screen grew again and we watched as she seemed forced to let go of her quirk and return to the ground. She held her stomach, turning a little green before steeling herself to run back in the direction she came and I realized she was following after Izuku. Her head popped over to the side and she changed course, apparently hearing Iida. They'd be a game of cat and mouse chasing their tails for who knew how long.

Katsuki's screen came to life as he rose from his crouch beside the faux weapon and sauntered out of the room they'd held it in just as Izuku turned the last corner between them. Holding up one hand, explosions blossomed on Katsuki's palm as he said something to Izuku whose face warped into something angry.

It was just like Katsuki to try and piss him off. I crossed my arms across my chest idly.

"It's a good plan," Todoroki commentated quietly. "He's riling him up. The more emotional he can make his opponent, the less reason they'll have during the fight. One perk of his terrible personality."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "You're one to talk Icy Hot."

Izuku launched himself at Katsuki only for the taller boy to fire off an explosion right in his face, but Izuku only slid to his knees coming up under the smoke with a fist reared back. Izuku made contact with a punch to Katsuki's gut and he crumpled over the smaller boy who shot a second hit straight up to his chin.

Katsuki retreated a step, but snapped back from the hit quickly saying something to Izuku who appeared to yell right back.

I felt my jaw slack at the sight of my brother keeping up with Katsuki.

The blonde fired off a propelling blast behind him as he went on the offensive, but Izuku was ready. Katsuki appeared through the smoke of his own explosion with a right hook that Izuku stepped into, grabbing the arm and twisting to flip Katsuki onto his back. Hard.

"Wow, look at Midoriya go!" Mina cheered.

Uraraka and Iida's screens grew again, but my eyes stayed glued to my brother and Katsuki's fight.

Izuku took off toward the room concealing the weapon and I found myself tensing with the thrill of his victory, but also understanding why Katsuki chose to have the hand to hand fight with my brother outside the room. If he'd been knocked down like that inside, Izuku would have had enough time to get to the weapon.

But they weren't in the room.

Katsuki recovered quickly, firing his way through the air back to Izuku who turned to fight. My brother prepared himself for Katsuki's next attack as he moved in and swung again with his right hook, but I could already see the signs of Katsuki's move.

I remembered sitting on the swings in the beginnings of winter beside Katsuki as he explained his idea, going over the amount of power he would need for each individual explosion before he growled and started over to the bars he so often used for body weight training.

Katsuki flashed a blast in my brothers face and rolled his body over his head before shooting off a second blast to reverse his trajectory once he was behind him, finalizing the move with a full powered attack to Izuku's back.

It was a beautiful move.

"Oh, wow, what was that?" Kirishima asked no one in particular.

"He doesn't come off as much of a brain, but it actually requires some intricate maneuvering and experience with your quirk to be able to pull off what he just did," Todoroki spoke up again, though this time loud enough for the entire class to hear.

"Huh?" Kaminari asked.

"He had to fully understand the output of his blasts to do one that would spin him over the top of his opponent and offer himself a smokescreen, then a second to propel him back toward his opponent before finally attacking from behind," I explained as best as I could.

Kaminari, Kirishima, Mina, and a few others turned to look at me before Kirishima said, "Wow."

"Yeah," I agreed, looking back at the screen.

Izuku skidded across the floor, pieces of the plain gray walls crumbling around them from the blast. Katsuki landed gracefully and touched a hand up to his earpiece at the same time that All Might did before us.

Uraraka's screen grew again as she climbed the stairs, carefully watching her back but we could all see that Iida was on a different screen, obviously frustrated as he whipped around another corner on the floor below, steam beginning to rise from the small exhausts in his calves. She was coming up on Izuku and Katsuki's fight just as Izuku rose from the ground with both arms.

Katsuki watched him stand patiently, allowing the time limit to creep up on them closer and closer with every passing second. There was a steel in Izuku's eyes as he took an offensive stance against his longtime friend and for the first time in a while I wondered whether the two even considered themselves friends. Izuku hadn't mentioned anything about Katsuki bullying since they were four and she was almost always with her brother through grade school and junior high. But when Katsuki matched her brother's stare she suddenly felt that she was watching a first spark between rivals.

Izuku ran for Katsuki who stood his ground as the smaller boy came upon him with an electricity growing around him. Izuku was glowing with static as he closed the distance between them before the crackling power concentrated on his arm with a golden glow. My mind shot back to Izuku's broken finger from the fitness tests yesterday and I let out a soft curse of disapproval. Katsuki showed no sign of fear or reluctance as Izuku closed in, going for an obvious right punch, but before it could make contact, Izuku pulled back.

A split second of confusion wafted over the observation room before something like a sonic boom exploded from Izuku's punch, launching Katsuki back through the concrete wall in a blink.

We all stared at the monitors in shock as Izuku collapsed holding his bruised and broken arm while Uraraka ran past him and into the room to touch the faux weapon winning the exercise for the heroes.

"What just happened?" the purple pervy guy asked, dumbfounded like the rest of us.

The wreckage cleared giving a full view of just how mangled Izuku's arm was from his own attack and I clenched my teeth, fighting back the sting of tears. I'd already started to make a run for the door back down to him when I saw the gaping hole in the wall where Katsuki was supposed to be. That was a three story fall.

I ignored whatever the others were saying behind me as I took off back down toward the mock metropolis that held the varied duplicate buildings we would all be participating in. I wouldn't have remembered which one they'd been in had Katsuki not been sprawled out in the road, pieces of the building scattered all around him.

"Kacchan!" I called out, but he was just laying there and I ran harder, faster. He was on his back with his eyes closed when I reached him, falling to my knees. "Kacchan, wake up."

"I am awake," he croaked furiously. "I can't believe that fucking Deku beat me."

"Are you okay?" I decided not to chide him about my brother just yet, instead choosing to inspect him for any serious injuries. Aside for some scrapes and bruises, he seemed in tact.

"I'm fine. I don't need you fussing over me, Hanachan," he griped, waving me off.

But his attitude had no affect on me. I simply nodded and said, "Okay, good," before standing up again to run inside and find my brother.

I screamed for him through the maze of the building until Uraraka started shouting back at me until I found my way. He was laying on his back, his arm a dark shade of purple and swollen useless at his side. I crouched down beside his good arm and grabbed him by the collar until he looked me in the eyes. "WHY WOULD YOU BE SO STUPID?!" I shouted as I felt the hot tears I'd repressed spill out.

He blinked up at me and even that looked painful. "I won though, didn't I?"

I wanted to slap him, but I already regretted calling him stupid even if I believed it. I remembered how it felt when I looked up at that zero pointer and felt the burning desire to conquer it - to win.

"Just," I stammered, loosening my grip on what was left of his costume to lay him back on the concrete. "Just stop breaking your fucking bones, fuck."

He rolled his eyes. "You sound just like him," he said with a rasp.

It took me a beat to realize he was talking about Katsuki. "Oh, now is not the time to make that a thing, Izu. You need to see Recovery Girl."

He simply nodded in response and I waited with him in quiet until All Might came with medic bots who took Izuku away to be seen by Recovery Girl. I started back to the observation deck when I saw Todoroki along with two other boys I hadn't met yet. One was blonde and had a thick, muscular tail while the other was extremely tall with three webbed arms on both sides, not to mention his intense hairstyle.

"We're up next," Todoroki informed me as they headed for a new building that wasn't completely destroyed. I looked over toward the entrance to the observation deck as I followed them and saw Katsuki looking over his shoulder at me as he stepped through the doorway.

I learned that the boy with the tail's name was Mashirao Ojiro and the taller boy was Mezo Shoji before the two of them went off to use their villain time to prepare their plan.

"Are you still going to argue your plight to participate?" Todoroki asked me.

I scoffed. "What other choice do I have? You're just gonna freeze the whole building or something and walk straight up to the weapon so why should I bother?"

This made Todoroki pause and watch me. "If you're emotionally handicapped because of your brother then it's definitely a better plan for me to just take care of it."

"Emotionally handicapped? That's rich," I snapped. "Look, from what I've inferred Shoji will be able to make more ears or whatever and know where we are while Ojiro will go for close combat. If you're really trying to turn this building into a freezer then it would actually be an intelligent plan, so by all means, go ahead."

He eyed me as I felt our planning time was running out. "What would you do with my fire if I gave it to you?"

I shrugged. "Depends on how much fire you have to give."

The timer ran out and we looked toward the entrance.

"Then I think we'll have to go with my plan."

He barely passed through the entrance before he stepped out and ice crawled out from his boot across the concrete floor and then the walls before I watched the entire building cover with ice. He turned and looked at me. "Be right back."

I crossed my arms and thought of my brother, hoping the idiot was in the infirmary by now.


	11. Chapter 11

**OK SO IM OFF WORK THIS WEEK AND BASICALLY NEVER SLEEPING SO THATS WHY THIS IS BEING WRITTEN EXCESSIVELY QUICKLY**

**NO WAY I WILL ALWAYS BE ABLE TO UPDATE THIS MUCH BUT IDK**

**IM KIND OF AN OBSESSIVE PERSON SO WE'LL SEE**

**THIS CHAPTER WAS PRETTY CUTE OVERALL TBH**

**IM INTO IT**

**AND AS ALWAYS THANK YOU FOR YOU REVIEWS THEY ARE LITERALLY THE MOST ENCOURAGING THINGS EVERRRRR**

**OK READY GO!**

* * *

"You should really get back to class, Midoriya-chan," Recovery Girl said softly from her desk. "He'll wake up when he wakes up and I'll send someone to tell you."

I looked down at my brother's bandaged arm and the IV sticking out of it. Katsuki had burned him pretty badly but it wasn't anything in comparison to the multiple breaks in his right arm that was now heavily wrapped and in a sling across his middle as he slept.

Stupid. Why use a quirk that has such terrible backlash?

"_I'm going to be a hero like All Might! Like you!"_

Some hero. My first hero class and I stood outside a building while my partner did all the work. Todoroki was right that my emotions had been compromised, but I could have asked All Might to let us go later in the line up at the very least.

He'd already been bandaged and sedated when I arrived back at the infirmary, skipping the rest of the students' turns at battle training. I hoped that Mina did well with the boy in the glittery hero costume. I realized I was starting to really think of her as a friend and I made a mental note to get her phone number later.

"Midoriya-chan?"

I turned to Recovery Girl with tired eyes. "Alright, I'll go," I said placatingly. "But you'll let me know when he's awake?"

"Of course, dear," she replied.

I nodded slowly, giving my brother one last glance before rising from my seat at his bedside. The events of the day replayed in my head and I saw him as he was when I'd run up to him in the training building. "I-I can't," I stammered. "I can't leave him. Please."

She sighed. "Fine, but run and get your things from class in case you'll be here with him after they lock up tonight."

"Tonight?" I asked sharply. "You think it will take him that long to wake up?"

"He could wake up the second you step out the door, dear," she said, her voice soft and comforting. "It all depends on what his body needs."

"Okay," I managed to say before rushing out the door to gather my things and return as quickly as possible. It wasn't until I was in the hallway that I noticed the clock on the wall showed that school was almost out anyway.

The class had apparently been dismissed early I noticed as I rounded the corner to see the door propped wide open and a few students meandering. Then I noticed one of them was Katsuki and he looked like he was arguing with Kirishima and Kaminari, but when I stepped close enough they quieted at the sight of me.

"How is he?" Kirishima rushed over to me and others followed, Mina, Iida, and Uraraka included.

I looked over to Katsuki who grimaced and turned to walk away. "Wait!" I called out without really thinking. He took two more steps before finally slowing to a stop and I ran into the classroom to grab both mine and my brother's things, slinging both bags over my shoulder before running back out completely ignoring all the other students watching.

Katsuki was standing a short ways down the hall, but still within sight of the classroom and I caught up quickly. "Thank you," I said quietly, surprised by the emotion in my own voice.

He looked between the remaining students around the doorway and my face. "He broke his arm?" he grunted.

I swallowed and nodded.

"Recovery Girl will take care of him," he assured me. "No need to get so fussy."

"I'm not fussy," I argued weakly, fighting the emotion still bubbling beneath the surface. I looked him over as if I'd be able to see any of his lingering injuries beneath his uniform and the hole in the side of the building he'd flown through came to my mind unbidden.

"What are you doing," he snapped after a period of silence.

I dropped the two bags over my shoulder and wrapped my arms around his middle and he tensed. "I'm glad you're okay, Kacchan," I whispered into his chest.

He relaxed and I felt his arms settle around my shoulders. "Yeah, you're not fussy at all."

I released him and took a step back before picking up the bags again. "I've gotta go back to Izuku."

"When are you going home?" he asked with… was that concern?

I shrugged. "Whenever he's awake. Recovery Girl doesn't know how long it will take."

He grunted and looked off over my shoulder, thinking. "Text me when you leave here."

"Okay," I said, starting to itch to get back to my brother. "Get home safe, Kacchan."

This time he openly groaned. "So fussy. Go away. Go back to your brother," he commanded before turning on his heel with his own bag and headed off to walk to the bus alone.

I watched him for a beat before turning back toward the infirmary only to see the remainder of the class had huddled together in the doorway spectating. I passed by them and forced myself to hold back a vulgar gesture, reminding myself that these people were my friends. They were uncomfortably silent as I passed until Mina stepped forward.

"Hana! Let us know when he's up?"

My mental note popped up in my mind. "Oh, yeah, I meant to get your phone number. I can text you when he's awake," I told her as we exchanged numbers.

"I'll make a group chat so everyone can get the update!" she chirped. "See you tomorrow!"

"See ya," I said over my shoulder with a small wave to the rest of them.

It was only about an hour later when Izuku woke up. I straightened in my seat and leaned over him as he looked around with hazy eyes before they finally landed on me. I offered him a slight small and he blinked heavily. "How long have I been out?"

"Just the afternoon," I told him and he immediately tried to sit up. I put an arm up to force him back down but he waved me off.

"No, I feel a lot better. I just needed the rest. Something about stamina," he trailed off at the end looking over at Recovery Girl who nodded, watching as he rose from the bed slowly. "So class is out?" he asked me and I nodded. He bowed his head looking concerned before looking to Recovery Girl again. "Am I good to go already?"

She smiled, "Yes, dear."

"What?" I argued. "He was just unconscious-"

"It's the way my quirk works. Unfortunately, your brother is already familiar with this."

I sighed looking between them seeing that I was not going to win this war. "Fine, let's go. But we can take breaks during our walks if you need them!"

"Okay, Hanachan," Izuku agreed much too easily.

We set off for the bus and I did my best not to draw attention to his backpack over my shoulder knowing he would try to carry it himself. We passed the spot where I'd talked to Katsuki earlier and I dug my phone out of my own bag.

**Hana: Heading out now!**

I slipped the phone in my blazer pocket as we headed down the stairs and I watched my brother's every step.

"Are you going to hover over me the entire way home?" he asked finally as we turned the last corner before boarding the bus.

"Maybe," I said quickly before my phone vibrated in my pocket.

**Kacchan: With your brother?**

**Hana: Yes, he's determined he's fine but his sling is really telling me otherwise.**

Then I realized I had never texted Mina and I checked to see if she'd really made a group chat. Sure enough there was an unread text from **Mina + 10 others**. Wow, Izuku really had been making a lot of friends around here. I looked up from my phone as we boarded the bus and found seats toward the front.

"Hey, I didn't even realize you had my bag. I can carry that, you know?" Izuku said playfully.

I glared at him. "Don't even think about it," I growled before returning to my phone.

**Mina: Hana! Heres the group chat! Let us kno when Midoriya is awake!**

I was typing back quickly when my phone buzzed again.

**Hana: Hey everyone, he's awake and we're on our way home. Thanks for being concerned about him!**

I hit send and flipped over to check on the newest text.

**Kacchan: So fussy. **

**Hana: I'm not fussy.**

My phone started blowing up from the group chat and I looked over to Izuku who was watching me with a peculiar look. "What?" I asked.

"Since when are you glued to your phone?"

I made a face. "Since you made a million friends who all want to know how you're doing."

He reached for my phone and I pulled it away as it buzzed again. "Here, I think I can add you to it."

"Hand me my bag," he said attempting to reach around me for it with his good hand.

I shot him a look before digging his phone out of the same side pocket where I kept mine in my own bag. I handed it to him before reopening the group chat and hunting down the way to add a person to the chat. "Ah, there you go. Not sure if you'll be able to see previous messages though."

**Mina: Of course! He was awesome today!**

**Kirishima: Ya! He kicked ass!**

**Iida: I am so pleased to hear of your recovery, Midoriya!**

**Uraraka: So glad you're okay, deku!**

**Tsu: Same**

**Kaminari: great job today man!**

**Izuku: Wow, thanks everyone!**

**Uraraka: Deku!**

The chat went on and I looked for the function that muted the notifications before checking to see if Katsuki had responded.

**Kacchan: Keep telling yourself that.**

**Kacchan: Run tomorrow?**

"Why are you smiling at your phone?"

I slammed my phone against my chest as I looked up to see Izuku standing over me and the bus had stopped. "I wasn't."

"You were," he said. "But it's okay. Let's go, I wanna get home already. What do you think Mom is making for dinner?"

I pulled our bags over my shoulder and followed him off the bus and down the road toward our house, responding to his questions half-heartedly as I looked at my phone.

**Hana: Okay**

For some reason I felt like I should have sent more than just an 'okay' but then again, this was Katsuki I was talking to. Who was I trying to impress?

**Kacchan: Home yet?**

**Hana: Two more blocks.**

"Hanachan, are you listening to me?" Izuku asked firmly snapping me out of my phone conversation.

"Uh, I'm sorry, Izu," I apologized, scratching my head.

"Who are you talking to? You're not responding to the group chat anymore." I hesitated to answer and he looked over his shoulder at me with narrowed eyes. "It's Kacchan, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah," I answered weakly.

He sighed audibly, but didn't say anything else. I could feel his words in his silence though. I knew him too well. Still, I didn't say anything else and we made it home uneventfully.

**Hana: Made it. Safe and sound.**

**Kacchan: Good. **


	12. Chapter 12

**I HAD NOT PLANNED TO CONTINUE TO NOT SLEEP AND WRITE THIS**

**BUT YEAH **

**THIS HAPPENED**

**A LITTLE BIT OF FLUFFY FLUFF (/angst?) BEFORE WE LAUNCH INTO THE ATTACK ON USJ**

**AS ALWAYS THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT IN FAVES FOLLOWS AND REVIEWS! I LOVE HEARING THE POSITIVE COMMENTS!**

**EEEEP**

**SORRY I JUST REALLY LOVE THIS CHAPTER**

**OK READY GO **

* * *

The next morning I woke up to about thirty text messages from my brother's group chat. I sighed and left them unread as I got dressed for my run. My phone still on the charger, I headed for the kitchen to make a piece of toast and a small glass of water before finally heading out.

Seeing Katsuki waiting for me felt somewhere between absurdly bizarre and the most normal thing in the world after all our morning runs during the ten months we spent training together for the entrance exam. Today he was sitting in the middle of the road stretching.

I jogged up behind him as he reached down and touched one the feet of his spread legs. "If you wanted to be hit by a car, I'm sure I could arrange something."

He looked up at me without breaking his stretch. "I'm just the bait to make sure the car hits you first."

I scoffed at him before moving to sit across from him and join him in the slow stretches.

"Think you're finally ready to fight me instead of running?"

I looked up and laughed out loud, but lost steam as I realized he was serious. "You were shot through a wall of concrete and fell three stories yesterday."

"I thought you weren't fussy."

"Stop using that word," I snapped. "It sounds so weird coming out of your mouth."

"Your brother isn't the only one who can ever be sent to Recovery Girl," he grumbled before standing up and continuing with our stretches.

I followed suit, but didn't reply.

"Don't even try to tell me you're tired. I saw that split hair kid do your entire combat training for you."

"You mean Icy Hot?" I asked as I mirrored him stretching his arm across his chest before switching to the other one.

He chuckled. "That's a good one. Don't distract me. I want to fight you."

"I'll fight you in class."

He scowled and straightened up, satisfied with our little warm up. He opened his mouth to say something smart again and I turned and ran away from him.

"Better hurry the fuck up or I'll leave your ass behind!" I called out over my shoulder into the still-dark morning. The movement felt good in my limbs as I set off in a steady sprint. A morning chill whipped across my cheek and I closed my eyes for a handful of steps revelling in the freedom of it.

"Like you could ever outrun me," Katsuki barked as he fell into my stride.

"How much do those gauntlets weigh?" I asked, unsure of where the train of thought came from.

He seemed unphased. "Not sure. Why?"

"Were you babying my strength training? I couldn't see myself being able to wear those."

"You could," he said as we turned the corner that led to the park. "You're stronger than you think you are, but they would fit your stubby little arms pretty weird."

"Gee, thanks."

"Hm," he hummed and I looked over. "I bet they could make you a version of them that work like flamethrowers to support your quirk. We should have talked about this before you apparently refused to design your own hero costume."

The idea of a part of my costume that could create the fires I need sounded too good to be true… but it did seem incredibly similar to his gauntlets. I'd have to find out who to talk to about that.

Wait. "How do you know I didn't design my own hero costume?"

"It's obnoxious. You never dress like that," he said matter-of-fact.

"Obnoxious?"

"You don't like attracting attention like that, fuck. Do I have to spell it out for you or what?" he snapped before steering us away from the road toward the park.

I followed, a slow smile spreading across my face. "Oh, you're saying you like my costume?"

"Wow," he bit back and slowed his run until it was a walk toward the climbing bars. "That's what you took out of that?" He reached up for his usual bar and pulled himself up to the chin before lowering himself just to twist himself around to face me without touching the ground.

I approached him lazily, unable to fight my grin. "You like my costume," I goaded him and he rolled his eyes before letting his feet finally fall. "You think it's cute."

"Oh my god," he groaned. "Are you really doing this right now?"

I was.

I could feel the unfamiliar temperature that our friendship had taken in the last year on my skin as clearly as I felt the stillness of the early hours of the morning and it made my heart pound in my chest. I felt on fire in the same way I had during the entrance exams when I saw the zero pointer and I met Katsuki's eyes with a confidence I'd never felt around another person.

"You think I'm cute, Kacchan," I said, prodding him - daring him.

He held my stare for a moment before bringing both his hands to his face to dramatically drag his cheeks down. "So what if I do?!" he shouted, channeling his anger - his comfort.

I stopped a few steps in front of him as he grabbed at the bar over his head to lean on. "I-I don't know, actually."

"Oh for fuck's sake, what are you doing, Hanachan?" he grumbled, his frustrations rising.

I tilted my head. "I don't really know."

His eyes scanned the park and looked back toward home. "We need to be heading back, but you've made this fucking awkward. Did you just want to embarrass me or what?" he snapped turning back to me and I felt like his eyes might burn a hole through my head.

But what did I want? I hadn't come on this run expecting anything like this to happen but… I wasn't mad about it. I had never let myself think about my weird feelings for Katsuki any longer than it took to shove them away somewhere and focus on something more important, but now, with him glaring at me like he might blast the bar in his hands to pieces, it suddenly felt pretty important.

"No," I said quietly, but surely. "I like you too."

He opened his mouth ready to berage me with more of his annoyances before he froze for a second and then shut his mouth. "Well," he said softly before summoning his typical rage, "fucking… just say that next time. Now let's go. I'm not about to be late because you like fucking with my head."

He let go of the bar and started off toward home, but I just stared after him. What was happening right now? Did we really just-?

He turned and saw me frozen in place and let out a hiss before whipping around and walking straight up to me. "What do you want? Do you need this or something?" he growled out before stepping in close enough that I had to look straight up to see him as he pulled a hand up to my cheek. He leaned down, only to pause close enough that I could feel his breath on my lips and his eyes searched mine before he finally closed the distance and kissed me.

Kacchan kissed me.

He pulled away and wrapped an arm around my shoulders only to push me ahead of him. "Okay, now let's fucking go."

I chuckled out a laugh. "Now who's fussy?" I said before taking off in a heavy sprint.

He stayed on my heels the whole way home.


	13. Chapter 13

**I JUST CAUGHT UP ON THE LAST 30ISH CHAPTERS OF THE MANGA AND OMGGGGGGGGGG**

**I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS**

**SIGH**

**OK OK SO I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO GET TO USJ IN THIS CHAPTER BUT YEAH**

**I DIDNT**

**SO HERES ONE MORE CHILL HIGH SCHOOL CHAPTER BEFORE WE GET TO THE ACTION**

**WOOOO LETS GO**

* * *

_I marched through the warm summer day with a proud grin. Behind me, Izuku laughed along with the guys about how cool we all were. The blonde boy leading the way held out the stick in his hand in a cheer and I mimicked him with my matching stick as we stepped onto the mossy log that crossed our small river. _

"_Kacchan!" I cried out excitedly and the boy turned to look over his shoulder._

_Just as my foot slipped on the moss. _

_A cold adrenaline lanced through my heart as I heard my twin shout my name behind me. Kacchan dropped his stick and crashed into me before I felt the cool water of the stream swallow me whole. I poked my head up for some air to see a wet Kacchan on my right and a dry Izuku on my left up to his knees in water as he held out a helping hand. _

_I looked between the two before bubbles of laughter spilled out of my lips. I grabbed both of their wrists with a hand and dragged them underwater instantly letting them go in the gentle stream. Izuku popped up first looking at me with matching giggles as he rubbed water out of his eyes. Kacchan rose from the water with a peculiar look as he watched me carefully. _

"_Are you okay?" he asked softly once I'd quieted. _

_I smiled at the boy whose spiky hair was wilting from the weight of the stream as drops of water still ran down his face. "Yeah, Kacchan. Thank you."_

_He nodded before the strange look finally melted away and his typical determined face returned to the surface. He reached out a hand to me and I took it, turning to Izuku with a hand of my own. We walked out of the stream together that day before playing heroes and villains against Kacchan's other friends until we were all completely dried off. _

"You're daydreaming," Katsuki mumbled from his seat on the bus beside me.

I rolled my neck along the headrest to look at him. "So what?"

He turned his face to mine and that same peculiar look crossed his eyes and I smiled up at him. "Do you remember the day we fell off the log, Kacchan?" I asked.

He huffed. "You mean when _you_ fell off the log and dragged me down with you?"

But I couldn't stop grinning at the memory. "Sorry to tell you but you tried to save me. I would have happily fallen alone."

"Why are we talking about this?" he growled, touching his fingers to his headphones around his neck.

"It's what I was daydreaming about," I told him.

That same look he'd given me that day so long ago in the shallow brook flashed across his face before he grumbled and put his headphones back onto his head. I couldn't help a small smile as I pulled my phone out of my bag. The group chat had apparently buzzed a couple more times this morning and I opened it to remove the notifications. Scrolling through thirty four messages seemed a little daunting, but I did see the most recent texts about being careful of the press that had apparently gathered outside of the gates to the school.

I opened a new message and started typing.

**Hana: How did it go with Recovery Girl?**

I closed my phone and leaned back in my seat replaying the memory of falling in the stream with my brother and Katsuki. We'd all gotten along so well back then. It was only when we were a little older that we'd grown distant. Izuku had become more obsessive with his studies and researching pro heroes in action while Katsuki had become more determined to train himself to become the best. I thought back to the way my brother looked at Katsuki yesterday… What had happened to us?

My phone buzzed in my hand.

**Izuku: All better! Are you on your way? There's a ton of press outside.**

Katsuki's hand closed down on my upper arm and he hoisted me up without warning.

"Hey!" I shouted.

"Pay attention," he growled. "The bus stopped." I gathered my things and he let go of my arm, but kept a light touch to my back as he followed me out of the bus. He stowed his headphones in his bag and slipped his hands in his pockets as I lifted up my phone again.

**Hana: I heard… I just got off the bus. See you soon!**

Despite two warnings I was still not prepared for the horde of people with cameras and microphones and journals standing at our front gate. As we approached I suddenly felt concerned that I hadn't warned Katsuki, though judging by his darkening mood the closer we came to them they are the ones who should have been warned.

"What's it like learning from All Might?!"

"Tell us about All Might the teacher!"

Tell us what the symbol of peace looks like in front of the class!"

My head was spinning when Katsuki grabbed me by the shoulders and held me against his frontside as he glared at everyone who dared to step in our path.

"When All Might is… Huh?! You're the kid from the sludge incident!"

"Fuck off," he snapped.

When we made it out on the other side he was visibly fuming. Once he'd let go of me, he slipped his hands back in his pockets, clenching his jaw. I looked around to check for any spectators before tugging on my backpack strap and leaning up to kiss his cheek. Completely flustered, he bent his head to look at me grinning.

"What was that?" he said in a tone that wasn't exactly happy, but definitely not in a rage anymore.

I turned back forward as we stepped into the building. "You're gonna have to get used to attention and dealing with people if you're gonna be number one, you know?"

He grunted. "As if you handled it so well. Without me you'd have frozen in the middle of them and they'd have eaten you for breakfast."

"Whatever, I could have talked to them if I wanted to."

He stopped a few steps from our classroom. "Oh really? Did you want to go back?" he asked in a teasing tone pointing back the way we came.

I slapped his hand out of the air and headed into class with a smile on my face.

Mina called out to me but Aizawa-Sensei walked in right behind me so I just waved back at her and headed over to my seat. Sensei went over some comments from the day before, including one about Izuku breaking his arm and me doing literally nothing. So yeah, that was embarrassing. But it was quickly forgotten about as he announced that we needed to choose a class president.

Hands shot up all over the rooms and everyone began talking over one another.

I considered our options from my desk as everyone else started jumping out of their chairs. Izuku was too timid and anxious. Katsuki hated everyone. Mina might be a good choice, though I suppose I didn't know her very well. Todoroki came to mind but he seemed like a non-explosive version of Katsuki…

"Quiet down everyone!"

The class flinched turning toward Iida who stood at his desk with conviction as he looked over us all. "Leading the many is a task of heavy responsibility! But ambition does not equate to ability! This sacred office demands the trust of its constituents! If this is to be a democracy, then I put forward the motion… that our true leader must be chosen by election!" he punctuated his speech with a passionate hand raised straight in the air with… a lot of tension…

The class settled on his idea but not until they'd made a few cracks at his passion levels.

I stared at my slip of paper before sighing and writing Iida's name down. He was right about one thing, the position was serious and I couldn't think of anyone who would take it more seriously than he would after all that.

But, of course, he didn't win.

I grinned in my seat as I watched my brother visibly uncomfortable standing at the front of the classroom next to Momo as they were announced president and vice president respectively. I was still chuckling to myself as we all stood to head to lunch hours later, patting my brother on the back as we stepped into the hallway.

"Class pres, huh?"

He scratched the back of his head. "I-I don't know what happened."

The lunchroom was already packed when we stepped inside and it took longer than yesterday to get our meals, but we made it. Izuku didn't talk much, but I was used to that when he was feeling a little extra anxious. We turned toward the full cafeteria and I saw his eyes immediately go to Uraraka and Iida and the one empty chair left at their table.

Before he could even turn toward me I said, "Go ahead, I'll find Mina, okay?"

He smiled at me before walking over to his friends and I turned to look for any sign of Mina or Kyoka or even Kirishima when my eyes landed on familiar blonde hair.

I took the seat next to Katsuki happily as I looked around the table to see the same crew from the day before. "Hi everybody!"

Mina quirked her head to the side with a smile. "Well aren't you chipper today! I like it!"

I blushed a little as the memory of mine and Katsuki's run that ended in the park this morning. "Oh, uh, I guess?"

"You went dark on the group text last night, Hana-chan!" Kirishima said from Katsuki's other side.

"Honestly, when I get too many notifications I ignore them…" I said quietly. Katsuki looked over at me out of the corner of his eye while he took a bite of his home cooked lunch and I realized he had no idea what we were talking about.

"Hey, we should get a chat app!" Kaminari suggested, holding his spoon up.

Sero creased his brow. "A what?"

"No, that's a great idea Kaminari!" Mina exclaimed. "Then we can add the whole class and have nicknames and stuff." She turned to me before adding, "And then you can turn off the notification whenever you want."

"Wow, Mina," I smiled, "thanks."

VREEEEEE!

Alarms started sounded above and a voice came over the speaker system.

"SECURITY LEVEL 3 HAS BEEN BROKEN. ALL STUDENTS PLEASE EVACUATE IN AN ORDERLY FASHION."

Chaos ensued. Students from every department and class stood and made a run for the one exit. Everyone at our table jumped to their feel except for Kyoka, Katsuki, and me. Kirishima and Mina looked at us in a panic.

"Well?! Come on!" Kirishima shouted over the growing commotion around us.

"I can defend myself just fine, weird hair," Katsuki said simply. "But if you feel the need to run into _that_," he went on, gesturing toward the entryway swelling with students, "then by all means, go ahead."

I realized that I was thinking along the same lines. There's no way we'd be able to push through the scrambling crowd any faster than it would take to wait for them to fight it out and we just walk right through when they're done. And in that time, whatever could get us right here would still be able to get us when we're all piled together in an even smaller space.

"Oh, I guess you're right," Kirishima said looking between Mina and Kaminari before they all sat back down.

I took a bite of my food as the alarms and announcements repeated in the background of the flurry of student's shouting and shoving one another. I wish I'd really thought of those flamethrower braces. I should have talked to Sensei about it before I'd gone to lunch. Surely there was someone in the Support department I could ask about such a thing.

I imagined what we would do if a villain managed to burst into the cafeteria and sighed. I would need to work infinitely harder on improving my speed if I was going to try to beat Katsuki to a fight. Maybe there was a way I could use the fire for propulsion too. But then there was still the fact that I would need to strengthen my fire breathing in case a brace was ever damaged or destroyed in a fight. I couldn't rely on a support item for so much of my power…

"Stop thinking so hard."

I looked up from my food and all the heads at the table turned to… Katsuki?

"I don't know what you're talking about," I answered him, taking another bite of the food as some of the chaos was finally settling around us. The crowd at the entryway was no longer shoving each other, but filing through the doors mostly in an orderly fashion.

"Whatever. Anyone could see through your stupid nervous habit. Cut that shit out," he mumbled between his own bites as the rest of the table looked between us and the emptying cafeteria.

"Wow," Sero said.

Kaminari looked over at Kirishima. "They really are friends."

"WHY IS THAT SUCH A DIFFICULT CONCEPT FOR YOU DUMBASSES?!"

They all turned to me and I rolled my eyes. "He's a great friend if you can handle him. Are you guys ready to go? I think the cafeteria is almost empty."

Everyone nodded and cleared their things calmly before heading toward the evacuation area.

Mina and Kyoka ran up to my side just as I was eyeing Katsuki to catch up with him.

"Hey, so," Mina said, looking over at Kyoka. "Are you guys ready for hero class today? Do you think it'll be as intense as yesterday's battle training?"

"I hope so," I told them, feeling an eager energy in my chest. "I didn't do anything yesterday so I'm hoping to really learn something today."

"I'm sure we'll all get to see some action this afternoon," Kyoka agreed. The three of us caught up to Katsuki who seemed to be walking a little slower than normal before we were surrounded by Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero who all jostled the explosive blonde, laughing together as we all stepped into our second day of hero courses.


	14. Chapter 14

**USJ PART ONE **

**WOOOO**

* * *

I decided that I loved my costume.

I walked up to the bus that was taking us to our first rescue training with Kyoka and Momo playing with how my costume felt as I moved my arms about. If I'd actually fought in yesterday's hero class I would have a better idea for how it felt to fight in it. The thought made me wish I'd taken up Katsuki's offer to fight this morning just to freshen up on my sparring. I reminded myself that I kept up with him when we'd trained before the entrance exams, focusing more on speed and stamina than raw power, to soothe my concerns.

"Wow, Iida is really taking this new role seriously," Kyoka murmured and Momo sighed as Iida stood in front of the bus shouting exactly what formation we should take to load the bus in the smoothest possible fashion. Apparently he'd launched himself up on a wall and calmed everyone down during the raucous at lunch or something so Izuku had offered him his position in front of the entire class and everyone more or less accepted.

"Are we really going to line up?" I asked them and they shared a glance with me before shaking their heads.

I found I really enjoyed their company as we waited our turn to load the bus. Neither of them talked excessively or asked too many questions. It was nice.

The front of the bus had non-traditional seating that faced inwards and all those seats were full, so the three of us made our way to the back. Momo quickly took the seat open beside Uraraka and I looked over to see why she'd rushed. The only other open seats were next to Todoroki and Katsuki and I openly laughed.

"What's so funny, Hanachan?" Izuku said from his seat up front as I passed him.

I tilted my head towards the two boys in the back. "Grumpy and grumpier are the only seats left."

He looked over and offered me a nervous, but knowing, smile.

Kyoka shot me a look before moving to take the seat beside Todoroki and I sat beside Katsuki who was looking out the window in a daze that reminded me of how he looked with his headphones on.

"Your quirk resembles All Might's," I heard from up front. It was Tsu sitting next to my anxious looking brother.

"R-r-really?! Nah, I mean, I…" he stammered.

"Hold up, Tsu! All Might doesn't get hurt though. They're already different in that way," Mina said across from them.

Both Tsu and Mina were right, though I'd never thought of the connection myself.

Kirishima sat up in his seat. "But that sort of simple, strength enhancing quirk is awesome! You can do a lot of cool stuff with it!" He raised an arm and it hardened, taking the shape of a rough stone spear. "Not like my hardening. I'm good in a fight, but it's real boring."

Izuku looked over at the red haired boy in his bare-chest militarialistic costume. :I think that's pretty neat, though. Your quirk's more than enough if you wanna go pro."

Mina bounced in her seat. "Pro! But don't forget that heroes also have to worry about popular appeal!"

The boy next to her dropped his chin into his hands with his elbows resting on his knees. "My naval laser is both strong and cool. Perfect for a pro." And then I remembered him from our fitness tests. It was a little bizarre from my point of view, but lots of quirks were.

"It's not that cool if it gives you a stomach ache though," Mina added making the boy with long blonde hair flush.

"You wanna talk strong and cool?" Kirishima said. "That'd be Todoroki and Bakugou."

Katsuki's eyes shifted toward the redhead. "Tch," he ticked before looking back out the window.

"But Bakugou's always mad so he could never be popular, kero," Tsu pointed out and I braced myself.

Sure enough, Katsuki jumped up from his seat and leaned over the railing in front of us, "WHAT'D YOU SAY FROGGER?!"

"See," the girl said, pointing a finger at him.

Kaminari looked over at the increasingly enraged Katsuki. "I don't know, man, we've barely started socializing and you're generally unpleasant."

"WHY YOU-"

I put a hand on his knee behind the barrier that separated us from the front of the bus and said, "You're proving them right, Kacchan. Sit back down."

"SOMEONE'S GOTTA TEACH THEM-"

"Oh my god, shut up and sit down," I groaned.

"What a vulgar conversation," I heard Momo say behind me as Katsuki glared daggers around the bus as he sat back down beside me.

"I think it's fun!" Uraraka chirped with a laugh before the bus finally arrived and Sensei quieted us all down to get off the bus.

We filed out and I made it a point to stick with Kyoka and Momo again as we filed into the massive dome shaped stadium that was the USJ. It was an incredible set up filled with all kinds of disaster scenarios from flooding and landslides to shipwrecks and wildfires.

It was like… an amusement park of disasters.

"Welcome!"

We all formed a group before the figure in a puffy white space suit and I recognized him from one of Izuku's journals. It was the space hero, Thirteen. This was going to be good. I clenched my fists at my side and anticipation vibrated through us all.

"I built this facility myself with every disaster and accident you can imagine. I call it… The "Unforeseen Simulation Joint"!"

"It's the space hero, Thirteen!" Izuku exclaimed.

Uraraka jumped in place beside him. "He's a gentleman hero who does his best work in rescue scenarios! Ooh, I love Thirteen!"

Sensei exchanged a few hushed words with Thirteen that I couldn't hear from the back and I looked out over the massive campus of zones. My eyes continued to linger on the wildfire zone, itching to see what my power was capable of with that much fire around.

"Let's get started," Aizawa-Sensei said to us all when they were done.

Thirteen held up two fingers. "Before we do, I have one or two points… or three… Lots of points."

We all wilted a bit, but I kept my eyes on the fire zone.

"As I'm sure many of you are aware my quirk is called black hole. It can suck and tear apart anything," Thirteen went on.

"And you've used it to save people in all sorts of disasters," Izuku added and I held back my desire to hit him upside the head like I always would at home when he would talk through movies.

"Indeed," Thirteen continued. "However, my power could easily kill. I've no doubt there are some among you with similar abilities. In our super-powered society, the use of quirks is heavily restricted and monitored. It may seem that this system is a stable one, but we must never forget that is only takes one wrong move with an uncontrollable quirk for people to DIE.

"During Aizawa's physical fitness test you came to learn of your own hidden potential. Through All Might's battle training you experienced the danger that your respective quirks pose to others. This class… will show you a new perspective! You will learn how to utilize your quirks to save lives.

"Your powers are not meant to inflict harm. I hope you leave here today with the understanding that you are meant to HELP people."

"That is all! Thank you for listening," Thirteen finished with a bow.

"He's so awesome!" Uraraka cheered while Iida clapped enthusiastically beside her and Isuku.

"Great," Sensei said, the dull look in his eyes contrasting Thirteen's fervence. "First off…"

A crackling sound lit around the highest supporting rim of the domed roof and a set of lights went out before the water fountain at the center of the area slowed until all the water stopped flowing completely. Sensei turned to look with us all as a small purple sphere of gas appeared before the fountain. Suddenly it lashed out until it was a swirling wall of deep purple.

And then a hand reached through it.

People spilled out of the purple void by the dozen and Sensei whipped his head around to Thirteen with panic in his eyes. "Huddle up and don't move!" he shouted and the class stared at the drones of people of all shapes and sizes stepped out of the floating purple wall. "Thirteen! Protect the students!" Sensei ordered and a sluid of fear dripped down my throat. I could see Izuku in my line of sight, but I found myself searching for Katsuki who was off to one side staring at the intrusion.

"What the heck is that?" Kirishima called out. "More battle robots? Like during the exam?"

But Sensei ignored his questions. "Don't move! Those are villains!" he yelled again, the urgency in his tone setting my bones on edge and my muscles were twitching to move. He raised the goggles he hid under his capture weapon that doubled as a scarf and took a step toward them.

My brother said something to Sensei, but I found myself looking between the horde of villains that were still pouring out of the void and Katsuki. He turned his head straight toward me and we locked eyes. Momo stepped away to get a better look to the side with Todoroki as they debated on how the villains entered and how no alarms were going off while I moved over closer to Katsuki.

"Thirteen!" Sensei called out as he stepped closer toward the edge of the stairs that led down to the villains. "Begin evacuation and try calling the school! One of these villains must be jamming the sensors. There's a good chance one of their electric-types is causing the interference. Kaminari, try using your quirk to signal for help!"

"Got it," Kaminari replied.

My brother stepped up. "But Sensei, you can't fight them alone! Against that many… even you can't nullify all their quirks! As Eraser Head, your fighting style involves erasure and a quick binding capture. Head-on battle isn't…"

But Sensei cut him off from finishing his train of thought. "You can't be a hero with just one trick."

And then he leapt from the ledge of the stairs and charged into the mass of villains.

Thirteen herded us together, pushing us away from the edge of the stairs even as many of us tried to watch Sensei in action for as long as we could. I stuck close to a tense Katsuki, keeping an eye on an awestruck Izuku over my shoulder as we headed for the entrance.

But then a purple mist formed before us until the void from the bottom of the arena stood between us and our only exit. Glowing yellow eyes narrowed on the entire class. "I won't allow an evacuation."

"Greetings," the void said. "We are the League of Villains. Forgive our audacity, but today we've come here to UA High School - this bastion of heroism - to end the life of All Might, the Symbol of Peace."

I felt him move away before I saw him step in front of me as Katsuki burst forward in front of everyone alongside Kirishima to land a massive explosion into the center of the purple void.

"Not if we end you first," Katsuki declared.

Kirishima's quirk was rock solid at his side. "Betcha didn't see that coming!"

But the void reappeared. "That was close," it said with its low, proper voice. "Yes… Student though you may be, you are the best of the best."

"Both of you get back!" Thirteen called out.

"BEGONE," the void boomed over us all as its opaque purple haze rushed out into the class.

I raised my hands to block my face and braced myself. The last thing I saw before the void took me was Katsuki's eyes meeting mine.

* * *

**WHERE WILL HANA END UP?**

**WITH KATSUKI? IZUKU? TODOROKI?**

**HMM?**

**STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO**

**WOO!**


	15. Chapter 15

**LET THE USJ INCIDENT... BEGIN!**

* * *

When my vision returned I was falling.

The void had been pure darkness, but now… there was so much light.

Fire whipped up all around me as my back slammed into the paved road of another mock city, only this one was entirely aflame. Obviously, the villains didn't know our quirks or didn't have time to plan before dropping us into random zones. This was the last place an enemy should have brought me.

I coughed for air until the wind returned to my lungs and I sat up. Sure enough, every single vacant building down the metropolitan road was on fire, the flames licking out onto the streets and I could already feel the sweat beading on my forehead from the heat. I didn't see anyone else at first as I stood to my feet slowly before seeking shelter in the nearest gap between buildings.

And then I heard something between the roar of the flames in the distance and turned on my heel and ran through the alley to the next street over. I slowed as I reached its mouth, peering over the corner to see Ojiro.

Surrounded by over a dozen villains.

I could see the tinge of fear across his features, but he set his eyes ahead and spread his feet, ready for the fight ahead. I was buzzing with adrenaline, the fire fueling my drive as I stared at the challenge of their numbers. With a quick stretch and a look toward the other direction to confirm it clear, I stepped out from the alley.

"You fuckers looking to pick a fight?!" I shouted over the flames.

Every face turned toward me, including Ojiro's which fell in concern and I realized he likely had no idea what my quirk was. The only time I'd used it in front of the class was to stop some of Katsuki's smaller explosions.

I walked toward them at a steady pace, reaching out with my quirk to feel the blaze that surrounded us. The only concern in my head was whether I was comfortable killing all these people, but I dared to remind myself it might be their lives or mine.

"Hah," one of the bulked up strong-men closest to me laughed. "A little girl?"

"I'm surprised she hasn't started crying yet," one with blue skin said.

I stopped nearly five paces away from them and Ojiro watched me with narrow eyes.

"What can you do, little girl? Huh?" the strong-man said. "Drown me in your tears?"

"Ojiro," I called out. "If you could get back that would be great."

He paused for a beat before jumping up and using his tail to fling himself up and over the thinnest row of enemies, but one leapt up after him. He whipped his tail in a tactful spin to slam it against the chest of the villain. He fell back down where he came from carelessly and Ojiro put more space between us.

"Well," the same villain said, raising his hands. "I'm waiting. What's the big deal?"

I parted my lips and let my father's flame roll off my tongue until it fell in my waiting hand.

"HA-"

And then I closed my fist around it.

All the fire in the two buildings on either side of the horde of villains disappeared. I watched the panic slowly fall on their faces as they searched for my trick, but I was too focused to let this be anything but perfect. I took the final steps into the strong-man's face before he finally lost his patience and dove toward me. I slid away easily from his bulky form, pivoting around to his backside to land an elbow directly on his spine.

The others charged and I heard Ojiro yell for me, but I had to focus. I waited for them to close in before raising both my hands in the air, pulling on my little illusion I'd thought up the second I'd spied the wildfire zone. The villains all paused to look up, paling as they saw that I hadn't extinguished the buildings' fires - rather, I'd simply displaced them.

I balled my hands into fists and brought them down, pulling the lake of fire down from above us. It crashed like a wave and I poured my energy into keeping myself extinguished as I dodged around every villain, weaving through them to safety all while ignoring their blood-curdling screams as I burned them alive. I felt my limit for multitasking approaching quickly and I let go of the wave before I joined their grim fates. The fire immediately parted and I dashed through it.

Not a single villain made a move for me as they desperately tried to put out their fires.

I ran for Ojiro who fell into my pace the moment I reached him. "Let's get out of here!" I shouted as we scanned the exterior wall of the dome that kept the fires from spreading to other zones.

"That was insane!" Ojiro said as we finally slowed near the massive doors that ended up being a few blocks over from where we'd landed.

I couldn't thank him, even though I was proud of the control I was able to make a reality outside of all the times I'd visualized moves like that in my head. I also didn't need to remind him of just how gruesome that was either, so I simply nodded before we cracked open the door.

We didn't see anyone, but I still looked back at the nearest burning building and summoned enough fire for me to use as a weapon, but not so much that it would call attention to us.

"We need to get back to Thirteen and the others," I said pointing to the top of the stairs where a group still stood looking safe, more or less, from here.

"We'll have to go the long way," Ojiro said. "It looks like Aizawa-Sensei and the big guns are all right in between us and the others."

"We can make it," I told him before we headed toward the mountain zone, keeping to the walls. I kept my flame low to the ground, like a massive snake crawling behind its master.

Voices came around a corner, but it sounded like only one villain and…

Momo and Kyoka.

I held a finger over my lips to Ojiro who nodded before I peered around the corner of the wall. There was in fact one villain holding Kaminari hostage as he faced off with the two girls from my class. My friends. I pulled back and looked up at the mountainside.

"Ojiro," I whispered. "I have an idea."

Moments later, I was standing on his shoulders as he held out a hand for each of my feet before he pressed me until his arms locked. I was over halfway to the top of the man made mountain. I could do this. Searching for footholes, I took off on a careful climb to the top desperately hoping there would not be more villains waiting for me there.

I pushed myself over the brim of the flat tower-like rock and let out a breath at the lack of anyone else around. I crawled over to the opposite edge and the villain was still there, still talking, with Kaminari in his grasp. Momo and Kyoka hadn't moved an inch.

I summoned my serpent of fire, thinning it out and elongating it the closer it came to me up the mountain until it was by my side. Without waiting a second longer I sent the serpent over the edge and it flew down the rock before jumping off toward the thug. He dropped Kaminari and turned, throwing out a blast of lighting straight for me and I took as much cover as I could while still being able to see, holding my focus on the fire. The bolt slammed into the rock beneath me just as a rope of fire wrapped its way around the thugs neck, winding around his torso as he tried desperately to pull it off.

The rock beneath me shifted - but I couldn't take my eyes off the fire. If I lost control of it, it would disappear completely.

"Ojiro! Other side!" I shouted as the edge of the mountain under me and I fell, steadily watching the villain as his skin burned and bubbled.

Pass out already!

The ground came up much faster than I was hoping it would and I braced myself to fall on the broken rocks when two thick arms caught me. "Thanks, Ojiro," I said without looking away from the villain who finally lost consciousness, falling to his knees before collapsing completely.

I sighed, relaxing as Ojiro set me down. The fire returned to me naturally, a passive feat that was exceedingly easier than actively imposing it on someone. "Kyoka? Momo? Are you guys okay? Oh my god, Kaminari! What happened to him?"

"Uh," Momo stammered.

Kyoka gave a pitying sigh. "He apparently goes stupid after a large scale attack."

I looked at the blonde boy with concern before checking our surroundings. "We need to get him back up to Thirteen and the others," I said pointing to the top of the stairs. "Wait, is that All Might?"

"Yeah," Momo confirmed. "I think he got here not too long ago."

On top of the dias that surrounded the fountain in the center of the USJ were three villains, including the purple void, along with All Might and a few students. Todoroki, Kirishima, Katsuki, and Izuku were all standing with All Might against the major villains. I told myself to trust All Might. I told myself over and over that All Might would be able to handle this.

But I looked between my brother and Kacchan and couldn't help the cold feeling in my throat.

"Hana-chan, we should go," Ojiro said softly over my shoulder. I turned to see he'd already thrown Kaminari over his back and I looked over to Momo and Kyoka.

"You guys ready?" They nodded back to me. "Then let's go. Be on your guard."

We made it the rest of the way back up the stairs without incident, even running into the boy with the long blonde hair whose name was Yuga Aoyama and Tsu carrying Aizawa-Sensei. Momo and Kyoka ran to her aid to help her hold his weight up the stairs as I lagged behind still holding onto my waist high fire pet. Before I even reached the top the other teachers arrived with a handful of other pro heroes, finishing off the last of the lower level thug villains.

Upon their arrival, things at the dias with All Might, Izuku, and Kacchan ended as the boss and purple smoke retreated back into their portal mist.

The others above gathered outside as the students that were still below filed in up the massive stairs. I sat about a dozen steps down with my knees to my chest and bowed my head. I had only seen glimpses of the major fight below, but I knew I'd seen the tell-tale glow of my brother's quirk that broke his bones and the bursts of explosions so aggressive that I knew nothing would stop Kacchan except by force.

I kept my fire around me still. It formed a nice wall to keep anyone else from telling me to come on with the others. I was worried, but also…

I was jealous.

I needed to learn to really breathe fire. I needed to stop using the part of my quirk I'd blatantly ignored until UA as a play thing and grow it into something that could make me stand alongside the top of our class. I thought of my brother's newfound strength, Kacchan's massive explosions, Todoroki's dauntingly powerful ice… They were the strongest among us, not only because they were fearless, but because their limits and their power were just so great…

I wanted to be one of them.

I chewed my lip and wondered if Recovery Girl had a speed dial. What time was it? I had no idea what shape Izuku would be in when I saw him again, but if he had more than one broken bone I was gonna lose it and wail on him for days.

A familiar blast rang out and I heard two feet touch the ground in front of me. I looked up right as Katsuki held out his hand. "Why the fuck are you moping?"

I didn't laugh, but I appreciated the light heartedness all the same. When I reached up for him, he grabbed my hand and stared at it before pulling me up. "What happened?"

I furrowed my brow before following his line of sight to see varying small burns around my palm and fingers. I checked the other hand and it was worse, but still less than half the skin of my hand. His thumb touched my jaw and I looked up at him. "You're burned," he said softly. "See, this is what I mean about planning your fucking costume, fuck. When ever you go see the Support department for changes you better take me with you because I swear to-"

I wrapped my arms around his middle and squeezed, effectively shutting him up. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Tch," he scoffed. "Of course I'm okay." I felt his hands fall on my back as he said, "Your brother is alright, too. Though he's definitely going to need to see Recovery Girl again. They're going to bring him up with All Might."

"Thank you," I said into his chest before letting him go.

He looked at me with that gentle look from when we were kids before turning to look around us. "Are you ever gonna let that fire go so we can leave?"

I bit my lip again remembering my promise to myself. I would learn to make my flames as big as this one. I would be able to stand with our top three.

"I was thinking of taking it home with me," I smarted back.

"So good to know you're prepared to set our bus on fire so you can keep a souvenir."

I stuck my tongue out at him and, to my shock, he smiled back. He touched the spot on my jaw again that maybe was feeling a little tender before lifting my chin to look up at him. He bent and kissed me gently and my heart started to race, my fire vanishing around us. We pulled away quickly and I whipped my head around to see if a teacher had seen, but they were all either down near the dias with All Might, up top with the class, or doing a final sweep through the stages.

He reached for my hand and pulled me along up the stairs, letting go once we'd reached the top.

"So, where did you land?" I asked him.

"Collapsed buildings with weird hair," he answered.

"Kirishima."

He turned his head. "What?"

"His name. It's Kirishima. You've gotta work on your people skills, man. You're not setting yourself up well," I told him as I investigated the burns on my hands. At least my suit was truly fireproof. I was surprised I was burned on my face after I focused most of the extinguishing on my face and hair.

"Yeah yeah," he mumbled as we stepped through the front doors. "Where did you land?" I grinned at him and he let out a smirk. "The fire zone?"

"Yup," I said with an uneasy sort of pride.

We stepped onto the bus where all of the other students had already boarded, but didn't bother to really check as we walked back to our seats from before. "Let me guess," he said, tapping his head with a massive grenade gauntlet almost smacking Kirishima in the face before we sat down. "You set a dozen men on fire without a scratch - well, from them?"

"Nope," I said teasingly. "Closer to two dozen." I looked over to Ojiro and smiled, glad to have made him a friend. Silver linings, I guess. But when I turned my attention forward Kirishima was slack-jawed looking between myself and Kacchan.

"B-but… he was so nice to you," he stuttered out.

Kacchan was looking out the window again, but I knew he was choosing to ignore this conversation.

I smiled at Kirishima. "You grow a resistance to his shell after a while and then you'll get to see what's underneath."

"Really?" the redhead asked me full of hope.

"NO!" Kacchan yelled in the other boy's face as I nodded my head enthusiastically.

* * *

Eventually Present Mic boarded the bus with us and I jumped up.

"Is my brother going to Recovery Girl?" I asked him before I'd even made it all the way to the front of the bus.

"Oh hey! The twin! That's rad! Yes, your brother has already been taken ahead with Aizawa, Thirteen, and All Might."

I nodded and made my way back to my seat where I stayed quiet the entire ride back and when we got there I went straight to the infirmary, cursing my brother every step of the way.


	16. Chapter 16

**Had a littttttle too much fun with the group chat... **

**But here's part one of a fun filler scene before we move on to the Sports Festival!**

**Thank you to everyone who has followed, faved, and reviewed! I appreciate it so much. I normally write much more dramatic, heavy content so it's nice to fly through this one easy breezy. The minimalistic descriptions and heavy dialogue keep it light hearted and moving along at a fun pace while the character play is just plain relaxing. **

**Thank you for the read! I'd love any encouraging words, suggestions, or predictions in the reviews!**

**NOW LETS GO**

**WOOO**

* * *

Recovery Girl would adamantly not let me into the infirmary, to my utmost fury. Something about All Might, Aizawa-Sensei, and Thirteen needing the rest and they all shared the room. I stayed and argued for longer than I should have before apologizing to her and heading back to the classroom to retrieve mine and Izuku's things. I sent him a quick text that I had picked up his bag and to text me the second he could.

As I stepped through the archway of UA on my way to the bus, my phone buzzed through the fabric of my bag against my side.

**001474: You have received an invitation to chat! Click the link below to download our app!**

I'd forgotten about our conversation at lunch about the group chat, but I assumed everyone was a little on edge after this afternoon wanting to make sure everyone was okay. I clicked the link, recognizing that I'd had the app before for school projects back in middle school. I signed in and the group appeared on the home screen.

**Class 1A**

**Meeeena: Hey everyone! Hana and I thought it would be a good idea to have a separate group chat for all of the class outside of texts, so here you go! Is everyone okay?**

**IidaTen: Fantastic idea on improving team building and communication you two. I would also like to know the status of everyone? Has everyone made it home safely?**

**KiriE: I'm good! How's everyone else?**

**Meeeena: Home safe!**

The messages piled in as Kaminari, Sero, Kyoka, Uraraka, Tsu, and a few others whose names she was still starting to learn confirmed they were home and alright. I watched the class buzzing in my hands before finally responding myself.

**HaMidori: I'm leaving the school now. Izuku is still in the infirmary, but Recovery Girl wouldn't let me stay with him. **

**Tsutsu: He did get beat up pretty bad.**

**Urara: Let us know when he's released?**

**IidaTen: Attention class! This is an announcement: I have confirmed that tomorrow's classes are cancelled. We will resume regular schedule the following day. Please like this message so I know it was received.**

I liked his message before stepping onto my bus. The front where I normally sat was full so I had to find a different seat toward the back next to an older woman reading a newspaper. She looked up at me as I sat and narrowed her eyes curiously.

"You're a UA student, aren't you?"

I gripped my phone tighter as it buzzed again and nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"Do you know anything about the incident today? It was on the news that a hero class was ambushed by villains," she said with concern.

I considered telling her I was in general studies and turning back to my phone to avoid her attention, but I remembered my promise to myself to grow stronger - to become a great power and a great hero.

"That was my class," I told her and her eyes widened. "The news is probably making it seem worse than it was. All Might and the rest of the teachers stopped the threat quickly," I explained, assuming that the school wouldn't like me advertising the level of student involvement or the massive amount of foes we stood against.

She eased in her chair beside me. "That's good to hear. What's your name, dear?"

"Hana Midoriya." I dipped my head and she patted my knee.

"I'll be watching for you in the future. It's good to see the next generation rising up."

I smiled and thanked her before she turned back to her paper. I lifted my phone that was still open to the group chat. Almost everyone had already liked Iida's message and I was surprised to see how quickly everyone had gotten into the chat.

**HaMidori: I'll let you guys know when he's home safe!**

**JiroKk: You too though, ok?**

**MomoYaoyao: Have you gotten home yet?**

I thought about telling them about the woman on the bus who already knew about the attack, but thought better of it. The last thing any of the class needed was more stress right now.

**HaMidori: On the bus heading there now!**

**IidaTen: ShoutoTodoroki KatsuBakugo Everyone in class has confirmed my previous message about class cancellation. Have the two of you returned home and understood this message?**

The bus came to a stop right as Todoroki sent a bland "Yes" and I closed my phone. I smiled at my seat mate for the ride who returned it sweetly before exiting and turning toward home.

"You just had to bring me into a fucking group chat," I heard from behind.

I turned on Kacchan with an accusatory glare. "What are you doing here?"

He grunted. "You said you were just leaving the school and I wanted to tell you how pissed I was in person."

I laughed openly and made to walk home as he stepped up behind me following suit. "You just wanted to walk me home."

"Shut up, you're the one who pouts when you have to walk home alone and I can't stand it when you're all fussy," he growled, touching a hand to my back as he came up beside me.

"You love when I'm fussy," I teased and he scoffed dramatically. "You think it's cute."

"Are you going to make this a regular thing now?" he snapped as we turned the first corner.

I shrugged. "Probably. You're fun when you're flustered."

"FLUSTERED?!" he shouted. "I'll show you flustered the day you grow a pair and fight me!"

I brought my finger to my chin and pretended to think. "Do you really want me to grow a pair though? Seems like that might put a damper on you liking me, don't you think?"

He stopped walking and his mouth dropped open in exasperation. "How on earth do I put up with you?" he grumbled.

"HA!" I barked, pulling my phone back out and scrolling through the group chat. "You know they're worried about you? They want to know you made it home okay."

He rolled his eyes, catching back up to me. "Whatever, you know I'm fine. They have no reason to concern themselves with me."

"They're your friends, Kacchan," I scolded him.

He scoffed. "I don't have friends."

"Except me, huh?"

He lowered his voice, "That's different."

I looked back down at my phone and typed.

**HaMidori: Kacchan is fine too. **

**IidaTen: Thank you HaMidori !**

**KiriE: You have his phone number too?**

**KKaminari: And he responds?**

**SeroHan: Wow.**

**Meeeena: Thanks for telling us! I was thinking for those of us who don't want to rest tomorrow maybe we could get together and hang out? Have a little class bonding?**

**Urara: That sounds like fun!**

**KiriE: I'm in!**

**TokoyomiF: It's likely unwise to venture out so quickly after today.**

**Tsutsu: He's right.**

**MomoYaoYao: Everyone can come over to my place? I have a pool and there's plenty of room. **

**KKaminari: DOWN.**

**Urara: That sounds great, Momo! Thank you!**

**Tsutsu: I'll come. I love the water.**

**JiroKk: Will it be warm enough?**

**MomoYaoYao: The pool is heated! I'll make tea and snacks! Everyone is welcome, but it's completely understandable to want the time alone to rest after today.**

**Meeeena: I love this! I'll be there. We can always take it easy.**

**SeroHan: Sounds great!**

I felt a tug on my ponytail yanking me back into the real world and I turned to Kacchan. "I'm sorry, did you need more attention?"

"Oh my god," he breathed, running a hand over his face. "No, asshole, we're at your place."

He was right. I'd zoned in on my phone and ignored the entire rest of our walk.

"You're gonna get yourself caught off guard if you're always glued to that thing out in the open," he chided.

"Is that why you only wear your headphones on the bus?"

He made a sound of annoyance. "Obviously."

"Hm," I said before looking up at him. "A bunch of the others are going to hang out tomorrow and I'm thinking about going."

"So go."

"I want you to come," I told him, not even thinking of what those words might mean before I said them.

"Not a chance, Hanachan," he replied as he slipped his hands into his pockets.

I resisted the urge to whine. "Come on, it'll be fun and relaxing after what you went through today."

He raised a brow. "What about me makes you think that socializing with those extras will be relax me?"

He had a point. "Well," I said stubbornly, "I'm going. I think a swim party will be a nice distraction and almost everyone has already said they're going."

He watched me for a long moment before finally saying, "Fine. But don't come crying to me when I get pissed off and murder one of those annoying little-"

"Really?!" I interrupted and he nodded begrudgingly.

"Now go to bed or something," he demanded. I smiled up at him and he touched the newly healed burn on my jaw. "You're exhausting me so I can't imagine how you must feel." He let his fingers linger against my skin before turning to walk back to his own home and I watched him walk away.

When I walked inside my thoughts turned to my brother and I checked my phone to see if he'd woken up yet, but my only messages were more responses in the group chat rallying excitement over tomorrow. I switched over to my texts with Izuku and typed out a message.

**Hana: I love you. I hope you're okay.**

* * *

Izuku came home after I'd fallen asleep on the couch with the tv on and my phone still in my hand. He'd woken me gently and I'd jumped up for a hug before we both made our way to our rooms to get some rest.

When I woke again, there was a soft knock on my door. "Hanachan?"

I stretched out my back beneath my teal sheets and yawned before cracking open my eyes to the bright sun shining in through the window over my bed. "Huh?" I called out.

My door clicked open and Izuku peeked in. "Are you going over to Momo's?" he asked and I pulled myself up on my elbows as my loose hair spilled across my pillow.

"Yeah, did you see the group chat?"

He nodded, stepping through the doorway in a white printed tee and red shorts. "I just wanted to ask before I left."

"Before you left?" I scrambled for my phone finally finding it beneath my pillow and checked the time. "It's already noon?!"

Izuku chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess mom wanted to let us sleep in," he trailed off. "Do you think you'll be ready soon?"

"I-I still need to eat first," I answered, distracted as I stood up and tossed my dresser looking for something to wear in front of the class. I was beginning to doubt why I thought it would be a good idea to go in the first place. "I'm gonna change and I'll be down in a minute."

"Okay, I'll find us lunch."

I slipped on my plain black two piece swimsuit before settling on wearing a tight pair of breathable black pants and plain white shirt with a widened neck that barely held onto my shoulders. I sighed as I picked up my phone thinking that maybe I needed to try branching out in my color scheme. Momo had sent the group her address and everyone going sent back something enthusiastic.

I stuffed my face in the kitchen with anything Izuku put in front of me and he paled.

"You don't have to rush," he said with a hint of concern.

I paused mid-chew and looked over at him. "I guess you're right."

"Are you nervous or something?"

"W-what? No. Why would I be nervous?"

He scratched the back of his head idly. "I don't know… I guess you've just never been especially social," he said, taking a bite of the food in front of him. "It's been nice to see you hanging out with a big group at lunch."

"Oh." I looked down at my cleared plate. "I guess you're right." My phone buzzed in my pocket and I saw Izuku take his out as well.

"Some of them are heading over. You ready?"

I nodded before pulling up a new text.

**Hana: Are you still coming?**

I checked my phone all the way to the bus stop chewing on my bottom lip.

"Let's get this over with."

Izuku and I turned on Kacchan who was wearing the same joggers I'd seen him in a million times with a red tee shirt. I smiled up at him.

"Why are you going if you don't want to be there?" my brother asked the blonde before his face slacked and he turned to me. My smile only grew and he sighed. "Let's go then, I guess."


End file.
